Aurora: The End of an Era
by Renz
Summary: Snively's rise to power heralds a new and dark time for the Freedom Fighters. Facing destruction a desperate plan is formed but matters are complicated by the appearance of an Order of Knights; what do they want, and what is their interest in Tails?
1. Prologue

Ah ha, for those who have looked at my profile since Christmas, I told you I was going to upload something! Well, maybe a story not as complete as I would like, because I had actually intended to finish before posting it, but the fact is that the more I add to it, the more I wonder about how well it flows. Am I introducing too many characters? Is there enough focus on character interaction, or too much on the same people? Is the pace too fast, or too slow? So many questions I can't answer myself, which has given me a newfound respect for the review system. But, yes, this is only the start, for a massive chunk is already done. I'm not going to upload it all in one go mainly so that I can get some feedback as the story progresses, but rest assured that this means that updates will be regular. Please leave me your thoughts, all are welcome so long as they are constructive, and I'll keep on writing!

So, Aurora. This is intended to be a continuation of SatAM after the end of Season 2, full of my ideas on what I think is cool, and will most likely be split up into different 'books' (for lack of a better term), each with it's own self-contained story. 'End of an Era' is intended to get the ball rolling and introduce some of these concepts- SatAM often feels like sci-fi with a medieval spin to me (kings, princesses and wizards...), so I intend to run with it. And what could be more medieval than knights in armour?

Anyway, it's been fun to write so far. Many thanks go out to those who have pre-read bits for me and offered their help; Tantrum, Mysterious Traveller, and in particular Capt'n Chryssalid, without whom things in this fic would have been very, very different (and not at all for the better!).

**AURORA  
The End of an Era**

**Prologue**

**Dreaming**

"Come on Aunt Sally, just a little more? Please?"

Sally Acorn suppressed a yawn, unable to deny a smile at the antics of her young charge. The sun had long since set over Knothole and, as was almost a tradition at this point, she sat next to the bed of the Freedom Fighters' youngest member, Miles 'Tails' Prower, who sat with his covers bunched in his hands, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"It's getting kinda late, Tails-"

"Aw, please?" he begged. "Please? Just to the end of this chapter?"

She sighed, already knowing he had won, and caved with a grin. "Alright, just to the end of this chapter… but don't you go telling Rosie, or she'll start saying I'm spoiling you."

"Yeah!" the fox exclaimed. "You're the best, Aunt Sally!"

She opened the book to resume the story, finding the page with ease, and cleared her throat. Tails settled down, his attention locked on her, and with as much drama as she could manage at this hour she began to read.

Tired as she was, Sally had the experience of years reading to him like this. Honestly he was maybe too old for it no, but in the middle of a war, such as they were, a tradition like this was something she was prepared to hold onto for a sense of normality. And Tails didn't mind, quite the opposite, listening keenly and sometimes taking part in impersonating the characters as she painted a sweeping picture in his mind.

This tale was one of the knight Sir Galahad, a valiant mobian of honour and chivalry, a lion who set out on a quest to defended his country against the horrors of an evil witch. The story was fraught with danger and peril, costing him all that he held dear, and there were many times all seemed lost… But the knight would always remember his duty and press ever onwards, to greater dangers and a more terrifying peril, ultimately coming face-to-face with the witch herself.

This battle was the most arduous of all, forcing the lion to face his fears as he fought for the courage to stand against the beast. She struck at him with terrible visions, showing him all his failures and poor choices throughout the quest, but ultimately the knight triumphed against her with the words on his lips,_ 'Honour is All! Chivalry is All!'_

And so the knight's home was saved, and Sally concluded the fantasy. Tails watched her, totally enthralled, and said at the end, "Wow… We're just like him, aren't we Aunt Sally?"

"What do you mean, honey?" she replied, again fighting the urge to yawn. Even at this hour (and with his bedtime well and truly passed), Sally couldn't deny that she was genuinely interested in the fox's observation.

"Freedom Fighters… I mean, we're just like Sir Galahad aren't we? We're fighting to protect our home from evil, an' we're doing it because it's 'right', aren't we? An we're trying to save the king, too… Just like Sir Galahad."

It was with surprise that she realised that Tails was right, and in more ways than he seemed to realise. Yes, they fought to save Mobius from evil, and yes they were fighting to bring back the rightful king… But they had sacrificed so much to get as far as they had and not one day of it had been easy. And still, with Snively now in command of Robotnik's empire, they still had a way to go.

She was touched by the comparison, and looked on Tails with pride. His eyes sparkled back at her, and she knew that he was linking and Sonic to Galahad… and it was not undeserved for the hedgehog to be considered in such a way.

"Yes, I think we are," she replied, and ruffled the fur on his head with affection. "Now get some sleep Tails… you need plenty of rest before the next mission. And we won't take be taking you if you'll give us away to Snively with your yawning!"

Tails smiled, "Okay Aunt Sally, good night. And thanks for the story!"

He settled down as Sally gave him the famous funny kiss, reassuring him and preventing any nightmares of a robotic double again infiltrating Knothole, and soon rolled over and closed his eyes. Sally smiled, her duty done, and quietly left his hut.

But as soon as she left the smile dropped from her face as she became all-business. Flicking open Nicole to check the time, she realised with a start that she had been a bit too quick to accept to spend so long reading; in a few hours the Freedom Fighters were to set out for a night-time raid on Robotropolis, an important mission she had been planning for a while, and one she had been very careful to keep Tails away from.

She might have made him officially a Freedom Fighter over three months ago… But he was still just ten years old.

Back in his hut with Sally gone, Tails lay wide awake and unable to sleep. His head was still full of images of valour and glory, of a good mobian standing up to a powerful evil to defend the world.

Would he be like that, one day? Would he become like Sonic? _Could_ he become anything close?

Tails climbed out of bed and wondered to the door, letting himself out into the quiet streets of Knothole. At this time the only sounds were of insects and the breeze, the only illumination from the moon high above casting an almost ethereal glow across the village, and for the hundredth time he fell in love again with Knothole's beauty.

His tails twisted behind him and with a flick he was propelled up into the air. With practiced grace he twisted about and landed on his roof, the straw ceiling handling his weight easily, and settled down as best he could without anything digging into his back.

He was blessed with a clear night, for the sky above was a stunning expanse of stars. He looked up in awe, his mind revolving still about the story of Sir Galahad, and wondered what destiny had in store for him.

----------

"Do you know, a long time ago someone complained to me that the two most abundant things in this world are hydrogen and stupidity."

"My Lord?" Marcus replied, casting a sidelong glance to his husky companion. Marshal Attias, cutting an imposing figure in his polished battle plate and black surcoat, regarded Marcus with a wry smile.

"I don't remember which led the way, Marshall Bareus didn't care to tell me. And honestly I suspect that hydrogen _does_ have the edge, but do you know Marcus, I think now I understand what he meant."

Marcus turned away from his master's strangely observant mood and looked out across the plain one more. The rusting remains of swatbots lay out before him, tattered and smashed, and from here high on the fortress walls it seemed as they had delivered Snively a terrible blow.

But he knew the truth. A distance away, just out of sight, the forces of Robotropolis rallied themselves once more and what Snively had lost was but a fraction of what he held in reserve.

This final attack would be the end of it. There were not enough of them left; amongst the bodies of the machines lay many brave Templars, each and every one cut down in the midst of combat, mobians who had died with honour.

Marcus felt proud to have known them but also felt a deep anger and hatred, knowing that their sacrifices had ultimately been in vain.

"I do not follow you, My Lord," Marcus finally replied, fighting away his despair.

"No, I think you do, Marcus. Perhaps you don't realise it, but… facing an end like this, a mobian in my position begins to see the world in a different light. Would it have tarnished our honour so if we had just asked for help sooner? We, all of us, have been fools."

"Sire!" Marcus gasped. "Surely you jest?"

"And worst of all, so far only the 'True' Knights Hospitaller have responded!" Attias continued. "This is a sad day, Marcus, make no mistake of that."

Marcus tried to swallow the lump in his throat. The very notion of needing help saddened him deeply- to him it was like admitting weakness, and the Glorious Templars of the Brotherhood of the Sword were _anything_ but weak. No, they were the very finest swordsmen from all over Mobius, the most glorious and brave of any other Order! What could the 'True' Knights Hospitaller offer them?

Marcus watched the carrion circle above the bodies of the dead, trying to digest what his master was telling him. Neither spoke for a while, until he could take the silence no longer.

"Why did you ask for me, My Lord?"

Marshall Attias took a deep breath, then turned fully to the cat.

"Gather your best knights and meet me in the great hall shortly. I have a duty for you."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Futile / Tactics / What is your life?**

Robotropolis was a dead city both day and night. Its inhabitants enslaved some ten years ago by the mad dictator Robotnik, all that visually remained of their culture were the crumbling spires of a grand city. Robotnik, in his complete disregard for any aesthetics other than those that were considered intimidating, had steadily rebuilt the city in his own image. What had been streets in the city centre years back were now carried coolant lines and power cables for his supercomputers; the old entertainment district now contained holding cells for all who opposed his will. From the skeleton frames of broken skyscrapers jutted cold, unfamiliar steel towers, rebuilt to house his inventions and monitor his empire.

In these dark days, there was little in the way of hope. Ten years ago the world ended, and all who survived simply had memories of what had been. And now, three months after Robotnik's fall during the Doomsday debacle, things had changed little for the better; Snively, Robotnik's nephew and successor, had much the same taste for dictatorship. A dangerous thing when combined with his new ideas, one of the first being the new soldier for his armies.

Dubbed 'Combot', or the CBT-01 to those who cared about such things, it was similar in performance to its predecessor the swatbot save for a stealth technology inspired by the chameleon species, allied to the Freedom Fighters. Cameras fixed to various points of it's body allowed it to detect the environment around it, and the shade of it's armour would then shift to match. For someone not specifically looking for it, it would be nigh on invisible- a most useful ability.

Such an irony, it's inventor had thought, that the Freedom Fighters had helped create a weapon capable of greater stealth than they. Guerrilla warfare could not win when those fighting it were superior in every aspect.

It was for these very reasons that this factory could not be allowed to stand.

Three shadows moved in the darkness, entering the complex, but they were not completely unnoticed- for it was the sirens that woke him.

Snively hissed in anger as he rubbed sleep from his eyes- being a machine, he supposed, would have its advantages over flesh. Besides, he probably wouldn't have to sleep at all if he robotisized himself, but then he could never trust his uncle's machine unless he could find a human test subject... A task which, on this accursed planet, was now impossible.

There were a number of reasons why he hated Mobius as much as he did. And it was the most annoying that had brought his rest to an end for the night.

Snively dragged himself over to a control panel built into his private quarters, and found on the monitor no other than Sonic the Hedgehog staring right back at him.

If he wasn't awake before, he most certainly was now.

"Mornin' needle nose!" the rodent called in an irritatingly chirpy voice. "How's the beauty sleep? Hope it's goin' good 'cause Mobius knows ya need it!"

Snively grabbed the microphone, ignoring the bait. His uncle would have taken this opportunity to engage in a round of verbal sparring- but Snively thought himself too smart to fall for that.

After all, it had been _he_ who had survived Doomsday, and not that fat fool of a dictator.

"All swatbots, red alert!" he whined into the speaker. "Freedom Fighters have breeched perimeter security. Numbers are unknown- search and destroy _immediately_!"

The rodent apparently heard the voice on the loudspeakers positioned all around Robotropolis, because if anything he grinned wider.

"Ooooh, 'search and destroy', huh? Cool. Tell ya what, why doncha tell them that I'm in a room with a big 'D-237' written on the wall? You know how much I hate waitin'."

The arrogance!

Snively didn't say anything, choosing instead to relate the co-ordinates of the room to the nearest swatbot squad via his keypad. With any luck, he'd get the drop on _The Hedgehog_ and finally the torment would be over.

"Woah! Now y're talkin' Sniv!" the hedgehog said, as the door in the background was suddenly blown away. Three swatbots stepped through in close formation, military programming dictating their movements as they immediately spread out with their blasters raised.

Unfortunately, Sonic the Hedgehog required a different strategy altogether, and Snively had yet to figure out a good one. He shot around the room like lightning, spinning into a buzz-saw of spines to slice the arm from one even as it tracked him. It made a swing at where Sonic stood, but he was no longer there, back flipping over the three 'bots and kicking forwards in a spin once more.

The rearmost swatbot exploded as it's power lines sparked into contact with an ammo bin in it's back. The blast knocked the second over as it turned, causing it to fire on reflex at point blank into the first which began to jerk and let out smoke as an internal fire took hold.

The remaining swatbot pulled itself to it's feet, spotting the hedgehog standing before it, tapping his foot impatiently.

"C'mon slo-mo! I'm waiii-ting," he drawled, infuriating Snively even more.

"Shoot him you fool!" he shouted into his microphone, almost losing his temper completely. The Swatbot did as told.

"Woah!" Sonic said as he dodged the blasts, leaping high and kicking the machine in the face. It didn't care – it couldn't feel pain anyway – but the spin that Sonic then performed made it a moot point as he took off it's head.

"C'mon needle nose!" Sonic shouted into the camera, a smug grin planted firmly on his face. "Send some more next time, that was way too easy!"

Snively screamed in his frustration.

----------

"Seems like sugar-hog's workin' up quite a pickle," Bunnie Rabbot whispered as guard Swatbots began to move away from the Combot factory. Sally nodded in response, waiting for the right moment, and did her best to ignore the terrified shivering of Antoine D'colette. From here, a catwalk atop the factory, they had an excellent view of almost the entire facility and perfect cover in the shadows above the main room lighting.

"I just hope he's not doing something stupid," she whispered.

"Aw, doncha worry y'self hun, he'll be fine. He can handle himself."

Indeed he could- he had done it often enough, but with their current relationship Sally didn't even want to consider losing him. Her family had been enough- Sonic as well would be just too much.

But thoughts like that could wait. She needed a clear mind here- she was, after all, the leader of the Freedom Fighters and as such could not afford to make stupid mistakes. She'd have to trust in Sonic not to go too far.

"Looks like now's our chance," she said, pulling her computer 'Nicole' from her belt and flipping it open. "Nicole, scan for swatbots in the facility."

"Scanning..." the machine droned. "None found, Sally. The area is clear."

"Good," Sally closed the computer and put it away. "I'll go and set the bomb. Bunnie, you get the escape route ready. Antoine..." she trailed off when she looked at him. Honestly, he looked like a sudden noise would make him wet himself, and it made her wonder once more why on Mobius he insisted so strongly on following her on these missions.

"Antoine, you keep a watch out. Let us know if any Swatbots return, okay?"

"Y-y-y-yes, ma' princess! I w-will be alerting you as soon as I see anything?"

"Good. Okay, let's go!"

Bunnie dashed off down the catwalk, heading into an office building to take an alternate route to the ground floor. That direction held a number of passages into the factory, so her part of the mission involved checking all of these and causing some kind of obstruction to stop reinforcements arriving unexpectedly. Whether that meant causing an error on the door controls to shut them down temporarily, or simply denting them with one of her robotic limbs so that they wouldn't open was entirely up to her, but whatever her decision Sally knew that she could trust the rabbit's judgement.

Sally herself quickly took a rope from her backpack and tied it around a nearby pipe. The rope was long, long enough to reach a vital part of the combot construction line, suspended around ten metres from the ground. It was the stage where the power packs were installed that eventually would power the machine- an explosion here would detonate both the packs about to be installed as well as those in storage, thus setting off a chain reaction. With any luck there would be nothing left of the building afterwards, and hopefully the few combots already completed would go with it.

All that would remain of the combots would be the prototypes, and there were few enough of them to be dealt with without too much hassle (or, at least, Sally hoped).

The princess slid down the rope, leaving Antoine to 'watch over' them. Once the signal was given from Sally that the bomb was ready, he'd follow Bunnie to the escape route- and until then, at least, he wouldn't go and accidentally cause them any trouble.

Sally reached the machine without any problems. A conveyer belt ran through the structure, a mass of robotic arms applying wires, boxes and circuits into torsos of combots as they passed through. Nearby was a control panel and a lot of important looking equipment- the perfect spot.

Careful to avoid the conveyer belt, Sally knelt and took off her backpack. From the bottom she pulled a dark grey box detailed with only a keypad and small LCD screen- one of Rotor's designs, an extremely powerful time bomb.

Carefully, she placed it in amongst the machinery and set the timer. The screen flashed to life as it set itself to ten minutes. Ten minutes to get as far away as possible.

Her job done, Sally gave Antoine the thumbs up and made her way towards a set of access stairs further down the construction line. He returned the gesture and disappeared from view.

----------

It was at times like this that Snively understood why his uncle had hated _The Hedgehog_ so much before his downfall. He had at his fingertips an empire which directly controlled roughly half the globe and dominated the rest, an army big enough to simply steamroller any opposition to his will, technology advanced enough to perform what would have been called miracles just a few decades ago- and yet, he couldn't seem to kill one rodent right in the heart of his capital city.

So far, the little blue bastard had managed to dart his way through a platoon of swatbots, and through their firepower missing him at every turn caused more collateral damage to sector D-23 than a fire could ever manage. And, all the way through, he had provided commentary and one-liners for the sole purpose of rubbing it in.

Snively closed his eyes and sat back in his seat, forcing himself to calm down. He had to focus, otherwise he'd never beat Sonic.

The rodent had to slip up sooner or later. All Snively had to do was wait for the opportunity. And besides, it could be worse; the hedgehog's rampage could have been anywhere in the city, including sector M-45... the site of his latest project. With the combot now finally going into full production, he could direct his attention into his secret little project, something he had been working on for a long time now. Not even Robotnik had known about this thanks to him constantly moving the data from server to server- but then, Robotnik had always ignored his nephew's talents. And now that he was gone, Snively had been able to build at his leisure.

But it was then that it occurred to Snively; the Freedom Fighters knew about the combots. Sonic was causing chaos on his own for no apparent reason than for his own entertainment and ego and, whenever he did this, there were always other Freedom Fighters around. This was the first time Snively had encountered such an incident without his uncle shouting orders at him, and now that he was in charge he knew that Sonic was not the real threat. He was just the decoy.

_The combot factory! _

In his anger, he had ordered all swatbots to search for Freedom Fighters, including those on guard duty around the combot factory. Worse was that he had stored some of his plans in the server there shortly before Doomsday blew up in his uncle's face. It was unlikely that it would be in any state to be recovered- but better safe than sorry.

Immediately Snively ordered a platoon of swatbots to move in on the facility. It may just be a hunch- but then he wasn't going to just ignore it.

----------

Her one and only warning that something was up was a high pitched whistle courtesy of Antoine.

Sally immediately ducked and made for the closest piece of cover- a support beam fixed beneath some of the construction machinery. She made it just in time, as the sound of footsteps approached from a doorway on the factory floor. A lot of footsteps.

She dared a glance around the beam. Five swatbots stood in plain view, but by the sounds of things more were nearby.

Not good. She didn't even bother to draw her blaster pistol.

She crouched deeper into the shadows as the bots began their patrol, flinching slightly as a light flashed in her eye- the source was Bunnie, halfway across the factory, using a small powerful torch to get her attention.

Bunnie flattened her hand up to her, and Sally got the message: 'don't move'. Sally cursed to herself as she noticed how far away Bunnie was; she hadn't yet made it to every entrance point, and it was going to cost them.

She waited, trusting Bunnie's judgement to see her through, and moved without hesitation as the rabbit flashed the signal for 'right, 5 metres'.

She continued to follow the Bunnie's directions for a few minutes, slowly but steadily making her way closer. Antoine arrived with Bunnie shortly after she set out, quietly gasping as he saw the peril she was in. It was a nervous affair; the three of them could not hope to win against the odds here, but just as bad was the knowledge that if she didn't get a move on then it would be a moot point anyway. The pressure of the moment had already caused her to loose her timing, and as she got within ten metres of her friends she could only guess that there was, at best, little less than three minutes left.

Swatbots searched the area nearby. Sally found herself forced into making a tough choice; did she want to be chased and maybe caught by Snively's foot troops, or blown to bits by her own bomb?

Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered what Sonic's comment on the situation would be, but pushed it away just as sharply. There was only one real choice, and with that thought in mind she sprinted out of cover and straight towards Bunnie and Antoine.

A swatbot saw her of course, and reacted in the usual way: loudly.

"Alert! Unidentified personnel detected! Halt in the name of Snively!"

Naturally she ignored it, knowing that stopping wouldn't do any good anyway. All she could do was run faster and hope for the best as the Swatbot raised it's arm and opened fire.

Blaster shots danced around her feet as she caught up with Bunnie and a panicking Antoine, and together the three of them dashed through the planned escape route; a ruined office that still had a broken clock and dusty paintings hanging from the wall. At the back of the room was a door leading to a flight of stairs. The basement lay below, their one and only hope of getting out of here.

The basement itself was huge, three whole floors below ground level, all to store materials and computer systems. They ran through them, following the ground plans Sir Charles had managed to gather, to where the central computer banks had once been- a sealed room where data of the factory's doings were stored, the only access being either an iron door or some air circulation vents leading to the city underground. The perfect way out.

They reached the room with the sounds of pursuing Swatbots right behind them, and trusted in Bunnie to wrench the aging door open. They leapt in as blaster fire began to strike around them and closed the door, twisting the lock shut as fast as they could.

And not a moment too soon.

----------

Snively watched the whole debacle in disbelief. How could he have been so stupid? Sonic was always the decoy – always – how had he not seen it earlier? Even _Robotnik_ had worked that out!

A window across the room looked out over his city. He glanced through it, towards his combot factory, just in time to see it disappear in a ball of flame. The night sky lit up and moments later the shockwave hit him, rattling the window glass in its frame.

Snively seethed, watching the destruction and the rising smoke. The fire would probably take a few days to put out and would have to be contained before it spread across the city. But it was okay. He had machines capable of putting out fires, and it only took a moment to bring them to alert status.

Now, with the damage control in place, he could turn his attention to what exactly had happened to the Freedom Fighters in the factory. From where the cameras had shown them running to, they had gone for a subterranean escape route. He wouldn't pretend to know the area much at all, but that didn't matter too much... Time was on his side. And his swatbots were in numbers great enough to put a complete lock down on the sewers.

Snively pulled up a map of the main city sewers and began to assign guard points to various swatbot squads. They moved quickly and efficiently, all on high alert status. They would let him know the moment they found anything.

Snively leaned back in his seat and steeped his fingers, pondering the situation. Robotnik would have not have made such a move as this; he would have let them get away whilst he raged against his 'misfortune'. The Freedom Fighters would no doubt think they had won.

Well, he thought, let them enjoy their victory. In the end, even if they somehow got away past his troops, it wouldn't matter. This was a setback; a costly one indeed, but only a setback. Perhaps he could get away with the few completed combots he had ready for use anyway. Perhaps in their victory the Freedom Fighters thought they had dealt him a critical blow.

Snively closed down the security programme and checked up progress on his pet project. It was as he hoped; hidden underground, almost complete, a select few Robians busy welding it all together as he watched. And the power source was nice and secure, sealed away in a vault beneath the construction with only one way in or out... and that door was solid steel, twelve inches thick.

Snively allowed himself a small smile as he resolved to get some sleep whilst he waited. Yes, it would all work. Soon the Freedom Fighters, _the hedgehog_ included, would be little more than a memory... and all he needed was a Chaos Emerald.

And the effort of claiming that little jewel, only a few hundred miles away, was well in hand.

----------

"D'ya think we got it?" Bunnie said, her back braced up against the door as the noise began to fade.

"I think so," Sally replied, also leaning back against a wall. That had been too close. Had they waited just a second longer, Knothole would be needing a new princess right now.

She looked around the room, taking in her surroundings and did her best to ignore the mostly collapsed form of Antoine. Bunnie stepped over to help the coyote up as Sally noticed a set of what looked like computer servers in a corner, machines which still, strangely, featured a set of flashing lights. They were still active... Apparently the solid walls of this room had worked well on a few occasions now.

Sally breathed a silent thank-you to whatever gods were watching that they hadn't given in this time. But her curiosity was perked. She took Nicole from her belt and switched it on.

"Nicole," she said as she brought the computer's infra-red port up to a matching one on one of the server. "Scan for anything useful."

"Scanning..." Nicole droned. "Data found Sally. Three files; Combot Operation Procedures, Combot Operating Systems, Unnamed File."

Well that sounded interesting.

"Nicole, copy all files. I'll review them later."

"Working, Sally."

"What y'all doin' Sally-girl? Bunnie asked.

"Well, Snively managed to make a few combots before we showed up. Some of these files might help us destroy them before he can start making more again."

"Doncha have 'em all already?"

"Not ones like this. They might be worthless, but it doesn't hurt to copy them anyway-"

"Files copied, Sally," Nicole interrupted. Sally closed the machine down and put it away.

"Ah, am I still living?" Antoine muttered, Bunnie helping him to his feet.

"Y'sure are sugar, an y' bettah get a move on 'cause I ain't carryin ya home."

"No no, of course not Bunnie. Ooh, I am thinking that maybe I should be getting myself a helmet..."

The sounds of metal being torn suddenly filled the room, and from an air vent nearby Sonic emerged performing his famous super spin.

"Yo Sal! We kicked butt out there!" he exclaimed as he came to a stop.

"Did you see the damage?" she asked. "How did we do?"

"Blew the whole lot sky-high! S'all good, ol' needle-nose ain't gonna be makin any more of those 'bots any time soon."

Sally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, good. At least this wasn't a waste of time," she said and gave Sonic a hug and a quick kiss. And it was true; even if Snively hadn't yet employed the combots against them yet, the threat had been there ever since the production line started.

It had been odd, that; Snively so far hadn't been nearly as active against them as Robotnik had been, but every time they received intelligence from Sir Charles that he was up to something, it was far more dangerous. Even if the human hadn't used the combots against them yet she was sure he had a plan behind them, and with any luck that plan had just gone up in smoke.

Bunnie, who was watching the pair with a smile, cleared her throat.

"Not t' rain on yr' parade y' love-birds, but we need ta get out of here before it gets light, y'know?"

"Yes, you're right Bunnie," Sally said as she detached herself from Sonic and forced her mind back to the job. "Let's get out of here."

They crawled through the tunnel Sonic had made in the vent, following it as it twisted downwards to connect with some of the subterranean passageways. There was no light so Sally cracked out a flare, bathing the tunnel in a sinister red glow.

The environment, just like the outside was cold grey concrete, this time decorated with power lines, cables and pipes running along the walls. White writing designated pathways to different services, for in times past it was these passages that used to allow technicians access to the city's systems like water and electricity, and because of this they were fairly well documented. Moving through them therefore was easy... provided swatbot patrols weren't around at the time.

Sally handed the flare to Bunnie and retrieved Nicole, using the computer to bring up a map of the area with ease. Their destination was an access way further underground into the city sewers, around about 100 meters from where they stood.

They hurried there, Sonic naturally taking the lead a short distance away. Frustration at not being able to run at his normal speed was obvious seeing as without light even he would smash into a wall, so he resolved that next time he'd bring more than one flare of his own (one on the way in, one on the way out!). But, thankfully, they made it without incident.

The door to the sewers was old and rusting, being held closed by a typical iron wheel-lock. Bunnie wrenched it open with her mechanical arm, gritting her teeth as it let out an almost painful screech. They descended down the ladder behind, Bunnie taking up the rear after closing and locking the door behind her. It wasn't long before they were running down the sewer pipes that would lead them outside of the city limits, desperate to be away before morning broke and made things much more difficult. And lucky for them they made it- ahead they could see the night sky as the pipe opened up over a short fall into an open-air water purification plant.

Sonic was, naturally, the first to exit the pipe, finally speeding up to his usual pace.

He was also the first to get shot at by the waiting Swatbot squad.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, caught off guard. This was a first... Robotnik had never set up an ambush after a raid like this. "Swatbutts!"

He dodged, his natural reflexes saving him as he leapt out of the shallow water. The other Freedom Fighters hopped from the pipe and followed suit, finding cover as their training came into play. Sally drew her blaster pistol and snapped a few shots off towards the machines as she ducked behind a pile of rubble, catching her bearings and getting a look at the surroundings as she did so. The plant, like much of Robotropolis, had seen much fighting as the coup occurred and as a result looked like a battlefield long before they turned up. Dust and rubble lay scattered around, blaster holes gouged in walls. Odd swatbot and spybot parts were left lying in the dirt, relics from the last time this area had been fought over.

Antoine moved in next to her, crouching deeper to keep safe. His terror was obvious but he still stood with her. Despite the situation, Sally smiled briefly- he wasn't the best Royal Guard in history, but she was sure he was the most loyal.

He also held a blaster, a weapon she knew he would rather not use, but these days they didn't have many options otherwise.

"Antoine! Pin them!" she shouted to him, blaster bolts kicking up dirt around them.

"Y-yes, m' Princess!" he stuttered, finally daring to glance over the lip of cover. He began to fire rapidly at the swatbots, scattered in comparatively light cover around ten meters away. He didn't hit any of them, but that was okay; all he had to do was slow the returning rate of fire by forcing them to hunker down themselves.

Bunnie was over to the right, Sonic to the left, backed up against solid concrete walls. Like Antoine both also had a distaste for machines, but flat-out refused to use a blaster and instead stuck to the abilities they had already- this gave her two excellent melee fighters. The trick was to deliver them into hand-to-hand safely. Were Sonic on his own, he would no doubt have charged into them by now- but to do so now in the open gave him a huge chance of being hit no matter how fast he went, and left the others open for a counter attack. No, in this situation they had a better chance if they worked together.

Sally looked towards Bunnie, who was waiting for an order patiently. She made a curving gesture with her right hand and held up three fingers. 'Flank right, three seconds'. Bunnie nodded her understanding.

She then turned to Sonic, and repeated the curving motion with her left hand. Then, she held her right and moved her left clean past it. 'Flank left, pass by." Sonic grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

Sally returned to the fire fight to hold up the swatbots' attention as Sonic disappeared. He then reappeared as a blur and passed by the swatbots, spinning past and setting one alight as he cut through it's ammo reserve. The machines quickly reacted to the threat, one or two remaining still to hold of Sally and Antoine as the rest turned to the hedgehog. Then, the third attack came into play from the right- Bunnie dove in from her steady timed advance, her robotisized limbs smashing swatbots left and right.

The fight was over in under half a minute, with every swatbot destroyed without a single Freedom Fighter loss. The extra training recently was going to good use.

Sally rallied her team, and they ran from the water plant and towards the great forest. They made it as the first of the morning sunshine flickered over the horizon.

----------

"Sonic?"

Tails found himself wandering around Knothole in the early morning sun feeling quite confused. Normally, his hero or 'Aunt' Sally would be the ones to wake him before breakfast but today that hadn't been the case. He had woken late, missing half of breakfast, and now had about half an hour before his tutoring began for the day.

And still they were nowhere to be found. It left an unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling in his stomach; worry. He'd already lost one family, and he didn't want to lose another.

As he neared the eastern side of Knothole, he heard a number of voices and occasional cheering. That caught his attention, and he soon figured out where Sonic and Sally had been.

Drawn by the voices, Tails found his objective. A group had gathered to congratulate what was apparently another successful mission won by the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Sonic stood with the usual suspects; his Aunt Sally, the half machine Bunnie Rabbot, and Antoine, the one remaining member of the Royal Guard. Sonic was, as always, lapping up the attention, whilst the others coped with it with modestly.

"Sonic!" he cried, and ran up to hug his hero.

"Hey, little bro!" the hedgehog replied. "How's it hangin? Knothole still cool?"

"Yeah, it's been mondo boooooring," he said, dragging out the word in the same manner Sonic would. Sally rolled her eyes. "Have ya been to Robotropolis? Didya win?"

"T2, The Hedgehog _never_ fails," Sonic grinned. "Y' shoulda seen it- I was surrounded by ten, no twenty swatbots, and had no where to escape- so I gave them the 'ol triple spin dash-"

"An' turned those slow-mos into junk, right?"

"Too right T2! Just scrap metal left! Y' shoulda heard Needle-Nose scream!"

Across from the two, Sally watched with vague amusement. It wasn't quite the truth- they had come very close, too close, to being killed this time. But of course she wouldn't tell Tails that; his perception on their reality, though false, was certainly keeping all of Knothole's spirits up.

"Hey Aunt Sally?" Tails said as he bounded over to her. "It sounds so cool! Why didn't you tell me about the mission?"

Thinking fast, Sally replied, "Uh, sorry Tails. This was a mission for just four Freedom Fighters, any more and we would have had too many to fit the escape routes. And we all had specific roles, you see?"

Tails apparently bought it, but asked anyway, "Oh, can I come next time? Please?"

Well, this was familiar territory. She looked over at Sonic, who was doing his best to appear innocent, and fought down rising feelings of anger. Why did she always have to be the bad guy?

"I don't know Tails, it'll be very dangerous..."

"Aw please Aunt Sally?" he whined, "You said I was a Freedom Fighter now, remember? Why can't I go!"

"Tails, please, we'll talk about it later. I've been out all night and I'm worn out..."

"Later? You promise?"

"Yes I promise," she said, giving him a quick hug, and turned to the others. "We'll debrief five..." Bunnie was suppressing a yawn, "no, six hours from now in my hut. I'll see you then."

They all acknowledged her and went their separate ways. Tails found himself alone as the crowd dispersed, and without Sonic to take his attention realised that it was an effort to fight down feelings of anger. He was a Freedom Fighter now, wasn't he? Sally herself had promoted him, yet nothing seemed different.

It was always like this, he mused, as he trudged towards Rosie's hut. Despite having proved himself to the Knothole elite and despite Sonic's constant promises, he was still a child to their eyes. He was still 'too young' to become a Freedom Fighter for real. Yes, he was only ten, but hadn't Sally been that old when she had first started her attacks on Robotropolis?

What could she have possibly seen that was so terrible? Tails couldn't understand it.

He sighed as his destination came into view. He was bored here. Knothole was a wonderful village and he loved the people he knew more than life itself, but he felt so enclosed, so trapped.

Often, he wondered if he had been born near here. Maybe in Mobotropolis before Robotnik took over? Or was it somewhere far away, like Mercia? No-one knew for sure. All that he knew was that Sonic found him in the Great Forest one day, so his hometown was anyone's guess. For all he knew he was born in the actual forest itself, so his entire world was simply Knothole and an acre or so around it. Sally would let him wander no further, so he really had very little idea how big the world was or what it was like. All his knowledge was from books... Well, that, and the very few times Sonic had taken him on one of his adventures.

He had to admit that Sally had been right when she told him about the Great Unknown. It was a wasteland, yes... But it was so open! Endless planes, and cliffs and mountains! It had been so strange to witness such a landscape after living under a canopy of leaves for all his life, and the whole world was full of these wonders!

He'd had a taste of what life had to offer. Perhaps it would have been better if he had never discovered how limited his world was, but now that he knew what lay around him he wanted more. He craved it.

He needed room to breathe.

The smell of baking cookies wafted from Rosie's open door. Tails' nose twitched. His interest was caught; he couldn't deny his urge to follow up on it.

Tails allowed a small smile. Rosie was a wonderful teacher and always seemed aware of his feelings. He supposed she had experience here having raised Sally before, and knew exactly what she was doing. He still had time before his lessons began for the day, but it never hurt to be early. And besides, the sound of the wind chimes in the breeze outside her front door always helped take his mind off his troubles.

----------

A hundred miles away, a fortress was falling.

The true reason that the Freedom Fighters had known three months of relative quiet, and the true reason that combots had not yet been properly deployed against them, was not a lull of activity on Snively's part- instead it was part of a carefully formulated plan. A plan consisting of hundreds of swatbots, three platoons of combots, and formations of support weapons and artillery. It was everything he could spare whilst keeping his interests well guarded (though apparently not well guarded enough), and all of it had been laying siege to the north for almost three months.

The ground shook with the feet of his infantry. Cannon barrels glowed with the heat of constant firing. The air screamed with wings of spybots. The fortress, a dark slab of stone built into the foothills of the Mystic Mountains, was a bizarre mixture of the ancient and the modern; parapets and murder holes were spaced along the walls, occupied by armoured Mobians manning huge electronically charged ballistae and trebuchets, flinging explosive projectiles into the heart of the machine lines whenever they came into range.

Finally, walls were falling. From the gates a meagre force of armoured survivors sallied forth, all mounted upon strong warhorses with banners and weapons held high. Most prominent was the symbol of a white down turned sword upon a black banner that flew gloriously in the wind, and it was accompanied with a defiant war-cry.

The warriors smashed into the swatbots ahead, only a few falling to blaster fire before they struck home. Machines broke, cleaved and shot, as a brutal hand-to-hand combat broke out. Mobians swung swords with exquisite grace, pistols being drawn and fired to destroy Snively's forces with skill and efficiency.

Combots materialised, swiftly hoping around on back mounted jump-jets to outflank the Mobians. They opened fire even as they did so, shots flying into the melee at random. Machine and Mobian alike fell to the salvo though not in equal measure, but it did not matter because, in the end, the battle could only go one way.

The Mobians fought to the last, never faulting, never retreating. Soon all were dismounted, steeds fleeing and screaming in panic, and they fell back into a tight circle. There, back-to-back, they fought like men possessed, killing time and again their own number. In the centre, atop a pile of swatbot bodies, stood one armoured figure bearing the banner of his Order with his head held high. It was he who first saw an incoming high-explosive artillery volley, and it was he who first raised his voice and sword for his comrades.

"What is your life?" he roared, his armour amplifying his voice across the battlefield.

"_My honour is my life!"_ was his answer, spoken as one by the warriors around him.

"And what is your pledge?"

"_My pledge is to serve!"_

"Praise Aurora," the standard bearer said, and the shells struck home.


	3. Chapter 2

Just a quick note, many thanks to those of you who left a review for the last chapter, it is most appreciated.But please, let me know what you liked and what you didn't- if it will help make the story better, then it's useful!

Anyway, now (as they say) the plot thickens. Enjoy!

**Chapter 2**

**Apocalypse / A Great Unknown / Auroran Knights**

As it happened, the debriefing ended up more like a late lunch. Whilst most mobians had their own facilities it their huts, Knothole had developed a communal dining hall and it was here that Sally brought her team. Her hut, she decided as she woke up, was too small for it anyway.

So here she sat with Sonic, Bunnie and Antoine. The hedgehog was, as always, taking his fill in chilidogs (which she still loathed despite their current relationship), whilst the rest ate with much more dignity; after all, they had all spent the early years of their life together in the Royal Household and Rosie had taught them to act within their status well.

Except for Sonic of course, but then he had always been a rebel.

"I sent a message to Sir Charles a few hours ago," Sally began. "We should know the full extent of the damage soon with any luck."

"Well ah don't think we'll be seen many combots anytime soon," Bunnie commented, biting into a carrot.

"I don't know Bunnie. We have no idea how many Snively managed to finish before we stopped him... We have to stay alert."

"Y'know Sal, I don't see the big deal," Sonic said. "I mean, they're just swatbutts who can hide better than normal. We can still take 'em."

"Sonic, I have no doubt you could destroy them... if you see them before they shoot you. What's to stop Snively just having one standing ready next time we attack? Just waiting. It would be like a sniper, just waiting..."

"Eh, it wouldn't hit me," Sonic said waving dismissively. "Those butt-bots are way too slow."

"So what if it just didn't shoot you?" Sally countered. "What if instead it just followed you back to Knothole?"

"No way! I'm too fast for some 'bot!"

Sally looked around to Antoine and Bunnie, irritated at Sonic's bravado and saw that they understood her concern. Sonic might be able to outrun a combot, but the rest of them didn't share his blessing of speed. His solution may as well have been worlds apart for all the good it would do the rest of them. But, she knew to just ignore his ego; he meant no harm by it. It was one of his quirks... as long as she could temper his impetuousness, then he'd be okay.

"_Anyway_, the next step is to hunt down all remaining combots and destroy them. I'll be assigning recon missions – recon, Sonic, not search and destroy – over the next week or so to determine roughly how many there are. Then we'll make steps to take them out."

"Just us, Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked.

"No, all Freedom Fighters, in teams of two. We don't know where Snively's keeping them, so the more eyes we have the better."

"Y'know Sal," Sonic interrupted, "Tails would be good at that sorta thing." She fixed him with a glare.

"Don't you even try it buster, don't go giving him any ideas."

The hedgehog raised his hands defensively. "Hey, hold up Sal, I mean it! You know how good he is at sneaking around, I mean he manages to listen in on Freedom Fighter meetings all the time even when he ain't_told_ about them. And besides, it's not like he _isn't_ a Freedom Fighter, you promoted him yourself!"

That was true. She had made him a Freedom Fighter, but that had been when they were more capable of predicting the enemy. Mobius knew she did not want the boy in harms way.

"No, just- no. Don't try it, Sonic. You've seen how the war has stepped up a notch. I don't want to risk him on something like this, it's too dangerous."

"You know, Sally-girl, you're going to havta come clean with him sooner or later and jus tell him what he means to ya," Bunnie said before Sonic could reply. "He's a growin' fox, an' he knows ya ain't his real momma. Keep holdin' him up in here, an' he's just gonna bust out one day on his own."

Sally rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I know that, Bunnie, I know. But what can I say to him? Whatever I do, he's going to be upset about it. I don't want to smother him, but... with the way things are, I don't have much of a choice." And it was true- she couldn't let him go anywhere for fear of what Snively would do if he caught him. The very thought of Tails robotisized made her blood run cold, for he represented to her the very innocence they had lost when they became Freedom Fighters. To lose that would be unbearable.

Suddenly, she'd lost her appetite. She sighed, pushing fruit idly on her plate. Who'd be a parent?

"Well, I'll let you all know what's going on and when. See you later."

She rose and left the hall, intent on her next port of call for the day; Rotor's workshop.

"Yo Sal, y'aren't mad at me, are ya?" came a voice from behind her. Sonic had followed after her abrupt departure.

"No, Sonic, I'm not mad, just... stressed."

"Oh, right. About Tails?"

"Yeah about Tails, the combots, Snively... After Doomsday, I just didn't expect this. I thought things would be getting easier."

"Hey, don't sweat it Sal," he replied, full of confidence. "We'll take Sniv out jus' like ol' Buttnik. You'll see."

"Yeah," she said without feeling, and Sonic pulled her into a hug. She relaxed, feeling a little better.

"Hey Sonic! Aunt Sally!" a voice called, and they both turned to see the topic of their previous discussion- Miles 'Tails' Prower, hovering towards them accompanied by the gentle _fwip-fwip_ of his two tails. Rosie walked a short distance behind them.

"Hey, big-guy!" Sonic said, releasing the princess. "How's school?"

"It's great, Rosie made cookies!" he said cheerfully, dropping to his feet.

"Cool! Save any?" he asked the nanny. She laughed lightly.

"Sonic Maurice Hedgehog, always thinking with your stomach!"

"Hey! I am not!"

"Aunt Sally?" Tails asked as Sonic attempted to defend himself. "Can we have that talk now?"

She froze for a moment, not really knowing what to say. Bunnie was right- she did have to explain to Tails _exactly_ why she kept avoiding his requests to come with them on missions, but she also needed time to organise her thoughts. Because, honestly, whenever she did she would be destroying his dream of being a Freedom Fighter… Breaking it to him and explaining why was never going to be easy.

Sally knew it wasn't fair to keep turning him down like this, but try as she might, she just couldn't tell him why right now.

"Tails, I don't really have time right now..." she began, feeling a whole lot worse as his face instantly fell.

"Aw, Aunt Sally, you promised..."

"I know Tails, but I can't right now... I have to go and see Rotor, it's very important for the Freedom Fighters. But I will later, I promise."

"Yeah, okay," he said simply, and she was left with the distinct impression he didn't believe her.

'But I will', she resolved. She had to.

She left Tails in Sonic's capable hands – if anyone could cheer the fox up, it was Sonic – and made her way over to Rotor's workshop. The walrus had been assigned with the creation of some new equipment to assist with surveillance a few days prior, and she needed to check up on what he'd managed so far.

As it turned out, Rotor had worked his magic once more on the materials he had available (namely, scrap metal and ruined 'bots stolen from Robotropolis). He'd built a number of trip mines with a magnetic clamp and laser trap so that they could be affixed to the metal walls of Robotropolis to provide a nasty surprise to any machines wandering by, as well as a number of miniature cameras that could be either affixed to a surface or worn as part of a headset. All images from the cameras had been tuned to show up either on a separate handset (again, one he had built) or on Nicole for Sally's own use.

It was excellent progress and she thanked him for it. He took it in his stride with only a small degree of embarrassment as he usually did; Rotor seemed to have almost a child's mind about his work, doing most of it for sheer enjoyment.

Sally returned to her hut afterwards, glad not to encounter Tails again along the way. And as she closed the door a tweeting from the window caught her attention. There waiting for her was a small messenger dove- a message from Uncle Chuck at last.

Sally reached over to the creature, took the small module tied to one of it's legs and opened it up. A smile formed- the bomb had done its job. All that remained of the combot factory was rubble right down to ground level, which put that headache out of Sally's mind for the time being at least.

Perhaps they could get used to fighting Snively after all.

She leaned back running her hands through her hair and marvelled at the irony. Who would have thought that things could be harder now that Robotnik was gone? In three short months Snively had proved himself to be a much more cunning foe; whilst Robotnik would favour cracking a nut with a sledgehammer, Snively could handle his temper more efficiently and as such tended to act in a much more precise way. After his rise the very first thing he had done was look into his own security, and his solutions to Freedom Fighters infiltrating the city had been thorough. Unlike Robotnik he did not simply build more swatbots because, as his uncle's efforts had proved, doing so just didn't work. Instead, the first change had been a perimeter wall suddenly appearing around Robotropolis, ten foot high with an electrified barrier on top. So far this hadn't proved too much of a problem – the metal eating plants Sally had saved from nearby Boulder Bay could soon burn them a way in as had been the case the night before – but behind it were regular, organised, spybot patrols and a steadily expanding network of remote blaster turrets.

Transportation systems evolved. The truck-like hovercrafts, proven to be vulnerable, were quickly replaced in favour of gunship-like transports that were capable of flying at a much higher altitude, preventing anyone but Dulcy from getting anywhere close. Suddenly it became that much harder for Chuck to find out what Snively was moving about. Worse still, computer data took on an entirely new type of encryption reducing the intelligence the old hedgehog could gather to a terrifying new low. Sonic had jumped on this development making it into an argument for his uncle to return to Knothole, but Chuck had had none of it- he was still determined to spy when he could on whatever he could, even if now all he seemed to do was check up on what damage their raids left behind and get a hold of old floor plans to help them prepare for the next one.

Because of this, finding out about the combots had been a fluke. Once the dust had settled from Doomsday and Snively was found to have survived, the Freedom Fighters had quickly dropped back into their old methods of warfare. The changes the human had introduced had been like running into a brick wall; before hand none of them had _really_ taken Snively as a serious threat. But it soon became clear that he was, as successful raids stalled almost overnight. One such raid caused the group to become split up as they fled, resulting in two robotisizations and one death at the hands of a prototype combot- an incident Sally had witnessed with her own eyes.

It had been that incident that resulted in the introduction of firearms to any Freedom Fighter willing to accept them. Sally had immediately set about altering their strategy, and all their efforts had turned to finding out more about the invisible swatbots… all of it leading up to the mission last night.

A mission that, thank Mobius, had been an oasis of success in a desert of failure.

Sally closed the message sent from Charles and opened up Nicole. The next operation would be to eliminate all remains of the combots and programmes involved with them... And the files she had recovered may help with that. So, now that she had some time on her hands, she opened up the first document- 'Combot Operation Procedures'.

Scanning the file through was dull. There was nothing new here; it was all old data that had since been surpassed, and judging by the date authored it had been last saved before Robotnik's fall from power. This then would be part of Snively's personal plans, which was no surprise at all for she had long suspected that the small human had been waiting for the Freedom Fighters to remove Robotnik from power.

Next was 'Combot Operating Systems'. Again, nothing new. Outdated, even. It was merely a set of programming to make the machines run and featured, surprisingly, herself as the 'priority one' target. Sonic was a mere number two, and it took her a moment to realise the reasoning for it; if it came down to a choice he would attempt to capture or kill her over the hedgehog, for not only was she the easier target but was also the real brains behind Freedom Fighter operations in this part of Mobius.

And, unless they figured out a way to save her father from the Void, she was the last link to the Royal House of Acorn…

It was a depressing thought so she made sure not to linger on it. Instead she went to the small kitchen area of her hut and prepared herself a drink, trying to massage out the ache in her neck as she did so, before returning to Nicole and opening up the 'unnamed' file.

Sipping her drink as she scanned the contents, Sally suddenly found herself coughing the liquid back up in surprise. It seemed that last night they had received a greater stroke of luck than she had realised for this last file was something else altogether.

All else forgotten, Sally began to review the file in exacting detail. A meeting was called within the hour.

----------

A tone sounded from his command console, alerting Snively to a new development. An incoming call from one of his mechanical lieutenants, and he wondered if it was about what was quickly becoming his favourite subject.

He pressed a button and the blank darkness of the main screen was replaced with that of Lieutenant SBC-023, the unit he had placed in command of destroying the fortress that protected his much-needed Chaos Emerald.

"Report," he demanded, and the machine droned a reply.

"Lord Snively, the fortress has fallen and all life forms have been destroyed. Victory is yours."

Snively let out a cackle and rubbed his hands together.

"Good, good! Those fools have finally accepted the inevitable! And what about the Chaos Emerald, where is it?"

"Units have searched the fortress entirely my lord, but it has not been found."

"What?" Snively said sharply. "What do you mean, 'hasn't been found'? No, go back and find it! Find it now!"

Snively felt his stomach fall from under him, a horrible spark running up his spine. Victory was so close- it just _couldn't_ be snatched away now!

"My Lord, all chambers within the fortress have been thoroughly searched with no success. But three hidden passages were found in the lower levels; one led to a crypt of no interest, one to a shrine that appears to have been a holding chamber for the Emerald, and one that follows a network of tunnels out unto the foothills. I theorise that-"

"They've snuck away through those tunnels!" Snively interrupted, venting his frustration. "Hurry, send spybots and begin a search! Find them, they can't have gotten very far!"

"Yes Lord Snively," the swatbot ground quickly and terminated the communication. Snively furrowed his brow, forcing himself to think. The mobians couldn't have escaped until sometime during the last two or so days, because his forces had been arrayed all over the region to fully map out the terrain for weeks. It was only recently that he had pulled together for a major assault… They must have been waiting, he thought, for him to make the mistake.

It was odd Snively realised that despite his anger and frustration, his greatest fear was appearing to be a fool before his enemies. The very thought that he had been outsmarted by a group of overzealous rodents made him feel ill; Robotnik's conditioning over the last ten years had taken it's toll.

Punching in a few commands to his console, Snively began to gather a force to pursue the mobians if and when, for his own sake, SBC-023 found them. Out of his troops four fully mechanised platoons with support combots were available. They ought to be sufficient he theorised, and pulled them from the Robotropolis guard roster.

A chime sounded once more and a command brought up SBC-023 on the main screen.

"Well?" Snively snapped, prepared to have the lieutenant turned into scrap if the answer was insufficient.

"My Lord, we have located the rebels."

Snively released a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding.

----------

Sally stood in the Knothole meeting hall, the hasty gathering quickly coming to order as Sonic arrived without Tails in tow. She breathed a sigh of relief that the hedgehog was alone, for this particular development was one that she was not about to worry the fox cub with – Mobius knew that she would rather not know about it either – and so had been sure to get Rosie to have an engrossing history lesson prepared to take the boy's attention.

The Freedom Fighters looked at her expectantly. Time to get underway.

"You may have noticed over the last few months that Snively has been very careful and precise with his moves. We know that he has always been more cautious than Robotnik, but I'm sure you will agree that it has been like there is a longer goal in mind; development of his transportation methods, increasing security in Robotropolis, creating a more effective soldier… Well, I can tell you now that he _does_ have a plan, and I think I know what it is." She paused for effect, and if anyone hadn't been paying attention before then they certainly were now.

"During our mission to destroy his combot factory, my team and I stumbled on some old backup files that he left behind before Robotnik fell. He's not quite _as_ sloppy as his uncle, but I suppose it runs in the family.

"Anyway, it's probably best you see what we're up against. Snively calls it the 'Apocalypse Cannon'."

She opened up Nicole and activated the hologram system. Next to her, a technical image appeared in mid-air of what looked like a howitzer pointing vertically upwards. Judging by the ground level marked, it was an almost entirely subterranean structure with just the muzzle of the gun protruding from its relaxed position. A set of rails were built on the ground either side of it, iron wagons on them assisting with the cannon's movement. Using these it could point anywhere from vertical to 30 degrees from horizontal, and with the entire structure built into a turntable it could fire in any direction.

Just looking at the weapon made her feel sick with fear, but never would she show it- she couldn't afford to.

"To give you a sense of scale... the cannon barrel alone is around 300 meters long."

There was stunned silence for what seemed like an eternity as mobian minds tried to catch up and accept this weapon for what it was.

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed. "How did he build that thing without us findin' out? It's... it's huge!"

"It isn't finished yet," Sally continued. "Well, I don't think it is anyway. I mean, if it was, you can bet we'd know by now. And as for how he built it... I honestly don't know. He's probably been at it for years. Maybe Robotnik started it. But with all the transports going in and out of Robotropolis, it's impossible to tell when he's moving dirt and when he's moving metal. And when most of it's built underground..."

"What's it for?" Rotor asked suddenly. Everyone stared at him for a moment, all thinking the same but none daring to say it.

"Oh yeah, I mean, yeah, obviously for _that_," he said just as abruptly, his mind working too far ahead of his mouth. "But it looks pretty powerful. What does he want to shoot at with something like that?"

"It... doesn't really fire explosive shells," Sally replied, thinking of how best to explain it. "Well it does, but not the usual kind. From what I can make out, it's a sub-atomic charge designed to force air directly away from it. Most of the shell carries highly compressed gas – the same sort that is used for carrying the robotisization beam – so it's all forced out in every direction as the blast goes off."

"And the blast would clear the air just like the robotisization chambers do," Rotor finished.

"Exactly. The shell also carries just enough power to initiate a robotisization beam that is ignited as it detonates… So the result would be that everything within a thirty mile radius would be instantly robotisized. With a range like that, he doesn't even need to know where Knothole is. He'll hit us sooner or later."

A stony silence once more. It even seemed to have an effect on Sonic.

"How... How many times can he fire this thing? If he completes it?" Rotor spoke up again.

"I don't know, perhaps three or four times a day. It is capable of hitting any point on the planet, so it really depends on how much energy he uses to fire it. Which brings me onto the point of this meeting- yes, there is a potential weakness which we can take advantage of.

"The machine requires a tremendous amount of energy to make it fire. It doesn't seem to work on anything like gunpowder, but instead is powered by gems called 'Chaos Emeralds'…".

"Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic said. "What on Mobius are they? I'm not likin' all these surprises, Sal."

"Hmm, I'd never heard of them either, but Nicole has. They seem a bit like the Deep Power Stones; they contain some sort of energy which Snively needs to accelerate the shells fast enough to give it it's immense range."

Sonic paused, mulling it over. "So does that mean that if we can get a hold of them, we can use them just like the Stones? We could take out Sniv in a few minutes!"

"I don't know Sonic. Nicole's information was limited. The only story they appear in is ancient history, and not any use at all. But, what really matters right now is if Snively has an Emerald. He only needs one- and the file I pulled from Robotropolis is five months old.

"This is taking priority over the anti-combot operation. I'm assigning you all with recon missions to find where he is building this thing and where the Emeralds are right now."

There was a general agreement around the group as Sally picked up a computer disk from a nearby table.

"Good. Cain," she said nodding towards a squirrel about her own age, "you've going in first. Use extreme caution- we don't want Snively to realise that we know about this. Rotor will issue you with all the equipment you need. Also, this disk contains everything we know on the cannon- get it to Sir Charles and explain the situation. If he can find us any more information then it will be a massive help, but if not tell him to leave for Knothole."

"Yes Princess Sally," he replied, taking the disk and leaving with Rotor towards the walrus' workshop.

"For the rest of you, I'll be assigning a rota. It will be on the village notice board before noon; be sure to check it to find when your rounds are. That is all."

The group began to disperse, talking amongst themselves. Sally shut down the hologram from Nicole, switching the program over to a messenger. The other pockets of the resistance would have to be warned and a strike planned; a gathering in Knothole had to be organised as soon as possible.

"Sal…" Sonic caught her attention before she could begin, and she looked over to him. "Does Uncle Chuck know about this?" Sally sighed- it had been something she had wondered and wanted to ask the older hedgehog, but logic led her to one possible conclusion about the situation anyway.

"He can't have. He would have said something if he knew."

"But couldn't that mean that this is wrong?" Sonic pressed. "There ain't no way 'Unc would miss something this big, an you know it."

"I don't know Sonic. It makes sense to me; think about it. He's been attacking us less, because this is probably taking all his attention. And one of the first things he did when he took over was change those transports so that we couldn't tell so easily what was in them… What do you think he's been moving around?" She waited for Sonic to connect the dots before continuing, "And then there's the combots to replace swatbots. Once the cannon begins operating, how can we get close enough to shut it down with a legion of invisible guards protecting it?

"Uncle Chuck probably doesn't know about it because we're all still used to dealing with Robotnik. I mean, he was hardly careful with his information, was he? Think of all those times we only knew of his plans because we _overheard him_ talking about them to Snively. It isn't that 'easy' anymore."

Sonic sighed. "Yeah, I guess you got a point, Sal… But promise me one thing? I'm on the next mission to Robotropolis. I wanna know all about this thing."

Even in a situation like this, his bravery could only make her smile.

"If you go and get some rest first, then it's a deal."

----------

Three hours later, Sally had nearly managed to complete her rota when Nicole began to beep loudly. She opened the computer up, more to stop the noise than anything else.

"What is it, Nicole?"

"Incoming message, Sally," the machine droned.

"Okay, let's hear it."

Immediately, the sound of a com-link crackled from Nicole's tiny speaker.

"Your Highness?" Cain's hushed voice filtered through.

"It's me, Cain… And just call me Sally, okay? What's the matter, have you found anything?"

"I've made contact with Sir Charles who is trying to hack Snively's intelligence network as we speak, he says he will make contact with you soon. I've not seen anything remotely like those Emeralds, uh, 'Sally', but I'm near Snively's central complex now. He's up to something, something big."

"Why, what can you see?"

"Troop transports, lots of them. They're all loading up with swatbots."

She paused. That couldn't be good.

"How many swatbots?"

"A lot. There must be over a hundred, and Snively himself was getting into one as well just a minute ago with his own escort of – I think – combots."

That was some force. Whatever he was doing, it was important... And Sally didn't want to let it slide.

"Cain, are you close enough to plant a tracking beacon?"

"I think so, I'll give it a try. I'll contact you again in a few minutes."

"Alright. Good luck, be careful."

The line cut, and Sally found herself faced with a tense 10-minute wait wondering if maybe she had just sent the squirrel in over his head. Honestly she didn't know Cain all that well because he was still relatively new but, she reasoned, squirrel-breed mobians were naturally agile and quick on their feet and Cain had certainly proved that he had both of these talents from earlier operations. For the time being he was just the sort of Freedom Fighter she wanted on an assignment like this.

When the line re-established, she let out a quiet breath of relief.

"Princess Sally? I've done it, the beacon's all set."

She allowed herself a tight smile. "Excellent work Cain. You're free to return in your own time, and I'll make sure you get double rations tonight when you do."

She could almost hear his smile. "Thank you!" he whispered, and cut the link.

She closed down Nicole, confident that he would make it home safely. The tracking information would be sent directly to the computer, but Snively had a head start. Only Sonic really had a chance of catching up with them despite having the subtlety of a brick, so he would have to do for this errand.

She found him near the ring pool chatting with Rotor, whose turn it was to collect a ring. Both mobians looked up at her approach.

"Sonic, I have a mission for you."

"Sure Sal, what is it?" he replied enthusiastically, jogging over to her. They idly began to walk back into the village as they talked.

"Snively's up to something, and we need to know what it is. Cain's attached a tracking beacon to one of his transports; I want you to follow it and find out what's going on. If he's found an Emerald, then you _need_ to get it before he does, okay?"

"Hey, no sweat! You just leave it up to me Sal."

"Good. Sonic, I can't stress just how important this is. Just find out what's happening, but if it _is_ an Emerald... Well, Mobius knows what will happen if he gets it."

"Don't worry, I gotcha loud and clear. I'll take a ring, just in case. Didn't need any on the last mission, so I've got one saved up jus' for an occasion like this," he said with a confident grin.

Well, he wasn't lacking in his determination, but Sally still felt like it was a huge risk to send him alone. So many swatbots, plus combot and air support? Even with power rings and his infallible confidence, his safety was a lot to ask for. She'd feel much better if at least she could go to rein him in if his speed went to his head, so to speak.

Thankfully, fortune was willing to give her a break in the form of the sound of whining jet turbines. The noise caught her attention and she looked up to see a captured air speeder settle down near the village entrance. She smiled. Ari was here, and was hopefully the first of many.

"On second thought, scratch that solo mission Sonic," she said, gesturing for him to follow. She made her way to the craft with the hedgehog in tow as Ari disembarked, waving a greeting.

"Princess Sally," he said, with a barely noticeable bow. "Sonic, it's good to see you both well. I got your message about the cannon."

"Ari, you're just in time! I need a big favour- we've just received a message from our scout in Robotropolis, it seems Snively is mobilising a force. We _need_ to know what he's up to- if we hurry, we'll be able to catch up. I was just going to send Sonic to steal it, but with your permission..."

"You want to use the speeder? Of course, we can set off right away."

"Perfect, thank you Ari. I'll get a team together."

----------

His fingers entwined, Snively watched out of the air speeder view port as the force closed on his quarry. The interior air conditioning lent a cool atmosphere to the vehicle, and he shivered despite himself as time drew on. Unwilling to let this Emerald slip through his fingers again he had decided to personally lead the attack, choosing not to pass by the fortress to gather more troops; they would have been too slow in comparison to this mechanised force, and speed right now was of the essence.

Out here in the Great Unknown there were few places to hide, and from what the spybot had showed him the targets were unconcerned about even trying. The mobians _had_ to know, or at least suspect, that something was up; machines did not simply wander around at random out here.

The first sight of them as they appeared on the horizon was a plume of dust from their mounts as the knights rode at breakneck speed. Snively entered a command into his console to magnify the image from his view port, and as they drew closer details began to become clear. There were fourteen in all, each bearing a silver suit of powered plate mail armour and black surcoat, and rode atop large, well bred warhorses in a variety of browns. One knight glanced back in Snively's direction to reveal a set of glowing blue eyes staring from a mobian-stylized great helm – a canine, judging by the shape of it – who immediately made a gesture to his comrades with a short chopping motion.

He knew precisely what they were due to his time in the Kingdom of Acorn before the coup. He also knew that they carried exactly what he needed; it was a beautiful thing when a plan worked out, and finally his three-month long siege was paying off.

Robotnik had disregarded them as a dead relic from a bygone age.

Snively knew better.

"Targets acquired," he spoke into his personal comm. "Destroy them."

Even as he spoke the rear ten knights peeled away and turned back to draw themselves into a line, apparently realising they had no hope of outrunning their pursuers. As one they drew their weapons, each of them taking both a heavy blaster pistol and silver sword into hand, and touched flat of the blade to their faceplates in salute.

Meanwhile, the remaining knights rode about formed a guard around the one who had looked back a moment earlier. Snively knew he must be their leader- a mobian, armed and armoured as the rest, though bearing more elaborate heraldry upon his surcoat and a holding a sword with a hilt that shone like gold. But this knight drew no pistol, instead reaching into a saddlebag on his horse and removing an item wrapped in brown cloth. From this he revealed a fist sized jewel, one which emanated a sickly green glow, and Snively knew he had hit the jackpot; at last he had almost in his grasp one of the primary relics of the Knights of Aurora.

Independent to the rule of any one nation, the seven Orders of Auroran Knights had been merely allied with the Kingdom of Acorn back when he and Robotnik had defected. This particular Order Snively knew well, the Glorious Templars of the Brotherhood of the Sword, for he had spoken at length of them once with the only knight that he had known to serve in Acorn's Royal Court. They had a reputation of focusing on combat above all else, a point Robotnik had been careful to note as he easily swayed them into performing suicidal charges against their Overlander enemies, simply to prove their valour and earn 'immeasurable glory'. Afterwards they had been weakened to such an extent that they were unable to take any major part in the coup, whilst the others had long since returned to their fortress-monasteries, too far away to become involved themselves.

Secretly, Snively had always thought them to be fools, but defiant fools none the less.

The knight closed his eyes, sword held towards the approaching air speeders. An overwhelming sense of danger took a hold of Snively, and on instinct he immediately ordered another craft to take up point position as the Chaos Emerald's glow brightened in intensity.

There was a sudden silence and all around him seemed to freeze. Then, a flash, and the lead speeder exploded. It was not from any incoming shot, no, the blast had completely blown it apart without a blaster round being fired. In another time Snively would have been left with utterly no idea as to how it happened, but that had been before he had witnessed the powers of Lazar and Nagus. He knew in his heart that somehow it was an attack engineered magically by the single knight, and it was the Emerald that made it possible.

"All units! Land and disembark immediately!" he shouted into the comm. The knight, he could see, slumped in his saddle as though the attack had taken a lot from him, but he would still be capable of the same move soon. The faster they were away from the transports and on solid earth, the better.

Snively's speeder dropped to the ground. In moments, the side door opened to allow his escort of combots to deploy, giving him cover as he dropped out himself. The speeder then rose back into the sky, blaster cannons mounted on the hull charging up, and began to hover into a position to give them supporting fire. Ahead, swatbots were deploying in much the same manner.

His observations were interrupted by a sudden battle cry and ahead he saw the ten knights charging straight towards his forces with the thunder of hooves. Raised above them was a black battle standard, the symbol of a white down-turned sword displayed proudly for all to see, and they smoothly moved into an arrowhead formation about it.

The knights smashed into his machines before the swatbots could get out of the way, sending metal and bodies flying from the impact. The noise was deafening as the wedge drove into them like a spear tip, horses biting and smashing machines under hoof, swords swinging to sever heads, pistols flaring to incinerate with blaster fire. Not one swatbot could stand in their way; together, the force of their charge was irresistible.

One knight took a glancing hit across his torso, spinning him in the saddle. The surcoat ripped as his plate armour, a burnished suit of dark metal, took the brunt of the impact and saved his life, but his horse screamed in fear at how close the shot had come and faltered. A second blaster bolt flew in, striking the knight dead in the centre of his faceplate, punching it back with a crack like the crushing of a can, demolishing it and the head inside. The horse reared up on it's hind legs and fell, the body flailing limply and dropping from it into the dirt.

Snively knew that they were dangerous, but like all his enemies, they were not unbeatable.

"Fire, destroy them!" he shouted to the swatbots and combots that had not yet made a move to engage. They hurried to obey, and abruptly the knights found both their charge slowing and the battle turning against them.

The first swatbot squad opened fire. Two knights and their steeds fell from the barrage amongst a multitude of machines, with another horse dropping from under a knight further on in a cloud of dust. The dismounted mobian hauled himself up, blade spinning around elaborately with a flash of silver, drawing back and planting his feet firmly before sidestepping incoming fire. Swiftly he returned it with his pistol, the flare of the laser blasts setting the dust cloud alight with angry red fire, before pounding forward into a brutal melee.

Six remained mounted, sill forcing their way forwards, but surrounded as they were such big targets did not last long. Battle plate protected the knights but their unarmoured mounts were not so lucky, their barding having been discarded in the hope of making them faster, and it was mere moments before the Templars found themselves on foot, surrounded in fight to the death.

But one somehow avoided the blistering death all around him. His steed pushed forward into a gallop directly towards Snively, a thunderous battle cry resounding from the external speaker mounted into his armour, his blade raised high. In the sky above, a second air speeder abruptly detonated from the power of Chaos in the same manner as the first, the explosion so intense that it took another with it.

Snively covered his eyes against the explosion. "Kill it!" he screamed, pointing at the charging knight, wanting more than anything to be rid of him. "Kill it now!"

A deafening whine filled the air as one of the remaining air speeders cruised around, it's guns lighting up. It was soon accompanied by two more, raking the remaining mobians with fire and thunder. But unbelievably the mounted knight still came for him undeterred, sand melting into glass in puddles about his hooves from the heat of the speeder's guns. His pistol came about and took aim, until a combot threw it's body directly into his path.

The horse tripped throwing the knight head-over-heels to the dirt. He rose, helmet torn away to reveal a black mobian cat, a white sword tattooed into his fur down the centre of his forehead. The cat stared right at Snively, hissing with anger.

"Fire! FIRE!" Snively screamed, suddenly desperate- the mobian this time, driven perhaps by pure hatred, was coming straight at him.

The blurry outline of a combot stepped forward to protect it's master, another shortly behind. But the Templar seemed to know what to expect – most likely having witnessed them during the siege – and moved into a strike. His blade swept up in a two handed grip, his blaster lost when he fell, and neatly cut through the first combot from groin to shoulder. The machine fell, snapping back fully into plain sight, sparking from it's ruined power core as the knight stepped by, twisting and driving his sword through the second's neck. He kicked the mechanical body away with thick leather boots, staring once more at Snively.

"Coward!" the Templar roared, as though spitting venom. "Fight me and reclaim your honour!" Snively let out a terrified squeal in response- he was less than eight meters away.

Another combot stepped in and fired a volley. The mobian saw it coming and was already in motion. The sword came about, striking it down in a shower of sparks, but it was then that a stray shot from an unseen machine ricocheted from his shoulder armour. It took him off balance, and as a fourth combot came for him his aim was forced low to merely slice off a leg. To a creature of flesh and blood the strike would be incapacitating at worst, but to a machine with no sense of feeling it was merely an inconvenience. It dropped to the floor, a fifth coming in and forcing the knight to react, and as his back was turned the floored machine opened fire.

The fifth combot of Snively's bodyguard fell, it's head severed from it's shoulders, just as the Templar felt a bolt impact near the base of his spine. The armour somehow took the blast with merely a dent but his insides did not- he let out a cry of frustration and pain, knowing that he couldn't fight with a shattered pelvis.

The knight staggered for balance, pain unlike he had ever known filling his body. Machines were moving to surround him, and both he and Snively knew that his death was imminent. Defiant to the last, he brought his sword back and threw it as another bolt stuck him in the chest. It knocked his aim off, but not so much that Snively escaped- the bastard sword buried itself to the hilt in the human's leg.

The cat, Castellan Marcus of the Glorious Templars of the Brotherhood of the Sword, watched as Snively screamed. He fell, swatbots surrounding him, tearing into his body with blaster fire, feeling no pain but instead a small measure of revenge.

----------

A few hundred meters away, behind a rocky outcrop atop a hill, the recently arrived Freedom Fighters watched the carnage in mute fascination without quite knowing what to make of it.

"What the hoo-haw..." Bunnie trailed off, watching through binoculars as Snively rolled in pain. A combot appeared, retrieving a medical kit from a landed air speeder and applying the contents to it's master's wound. Meanwhile the remaining knights fought on, slowly but surely falling one by one.

"I have no idea," Sally replied. There were few knights left alive now, the remaining four also charging into the fray desperately. The leader outstretched his sword, lightning crackling forth from the blade into the swatbot ranks, destroying them by the dozen. Sonic let out a low whistle.

"D'ya think Lazar might know somethin' about this?" he said. "I mean that guy has to be using some sort of magic, right Sal?"

"I guess so, Sonic. And it's a safe bet that the thing he's holding is a Chaos Emerald, too. That must be why Snively's attacking them."

The mobians fought heroically with sword and pistols flaring, the most recent arrivals in the fight proving to be the best of them all. But with now only four knights against what remained of Snively's army, there could only be one outcome.

"That's it Sal, I'm not waitin' any longer. I'm goin' in!" Sonic abruptly declared, hopping to his feet. He was gone before anyone could stop him in a blur of motion.

The dust began to settle as the last knight fell unceremoniously to the floor. Truly, there had been little doubt of the outcome in the first place, but it remained the greatest of insults as a combot stooped to pick up the Emerald from the gauntlet of the fallen Marshall Attias with no courtesy or respect. It turned with the glowing gem and walked towards Snively's landed transport as though it were carrying nothing of any importance at all.

"Hedgehog sighted! Priority one!" a swatbot suddenly ground out. A number turned, all marking Sonic through their networked targeting systems, and opened up with still-warm blasters.

Sonic made like usual- a flurry of leaps and dashes, somersaults and spins. He took three swatbots apart quickly using their own weapons and numbers against them, ducking away only to come back again from another angle.

He was good as always. Sally knew that Sonic was, when it came to combat, one of her best soldiers. But he was not invincible; all he had was his wits and speed, and with the odds stacked against him the swatbots could simply pound away until he made a mistake.

As it was, they knew they had the advantage. Snively was by now loaded into his air speeder, the surviving members of his bodyguard mounting up with him. The combot bearing the Emerald made straight for him, hopping into the transport whilst it's comrades gave it cover- literally getting in the way and letting nothing past. Not even Sonic could cut past ten swatbots fast enough, especially when more aimed and fired at him wherever he moved.

The speeder lifted away, with Sonic making one last attempt to jump and catch it. He didn't make it, landing amidst his enemies on one knee. Surrounded, his only hope lay in the power ring he'd made sure to bring. He pulled it from his backpack, the familiar burning light illuminating the area as it reacted with his DNA.

With Snively and the Emerald gone there was little point in hanging around. After destroying one or two more swatbots he made his exit, rocketing away and leaving the machines in his dust. He soon returned to the gathered Freedom Fighters, staring darkly back towards the remaining machines.

On their way home safely aboard Ari's captured speeder, the only noise was the dull drone of the engines. Nothing needed to be said; Snively had the Emerald though sheer force of arms. What could they have done against such power?

They would have to act immediately, Sally mused. With such interest for the Emerald, the cannon had to exist for certain. There was no real choice. If the Freedom Fighters stuck their heads in the sand it would be unlikely that they would see out the year alive.

Upon their return to Knothole she told as much to Ari, the Wolf Pack, and other assorted Freedom Fighter groups that had arrived in their absence. Night fell as the leaders gathered to make their plans.

"We cannot let this threat remain unopposed," Lupe, leader of the Wolf Pack said boldly. All nodded their agreement. "We have to find and destroy this cannon, immediately."

"Yes," Sally replied. "The first thing though is going to be to find it- and now Snively knows that _we_ know something is up, security will double at the very least."

"Not a problem Sal," Sonic pointed out, "all we gotta do is find _where_ most of that security is an' the gun's guaranteed ta be there."

"It's a safe bet," the princess agreed. "But to make things worse, we know not that he _does_ have operable combots. With any luck they will be protecting him as he recovers from his injury, but I want all of us to understand that this is still going to be anything but easy- if anything, that mobian who injured him will have made him more paranoid than he was before."

Ari cleared his throat. "I don't think any of us have ever expected this for one moment to be easy."

Sally smiled, sadly. "I know."

A few moments of silence passed as they mobians looked about at each other. Sally felt herself warm with pride, for even in the face of such horror not one Freedom Fighter fell to despair. Not one was willing to give up. Sonic, Ari, Lupe, Griff, Pollo and Dirk all looked back to her with confidence and loyalty, and she felt a great unspoken bond of trust form between them.

But for now, every mobian capable would be called to Knothole to join the assault teams whilst Sally turned her full attention to planning their attack. In one week, she swore, the Apocalypse Cannon would lie in ruin.

----------

It was not long after the Freedom Fighters left the Great Unknown when several other figures arrived. All ten were mounted and armoured in the same silver plate as the Templars had been earlier, but this time were adorned with tabards of red and yellow bearing alternately coloured crosses, riding at full gallop to where the remains of battle lay. Armour was fastened and locked in place, weapons loosed in their sheaths- they were ready for war.

The leader pulled up close by, his steed stamping in the dust, and looked down to survey the corpses through the glowing blue eyes of his great helm.

"So this is how it ends," he said eventually, and removed his helmet with the hiss of pressurised air. He was a fox, somewhere in his early forties, tall and strong with a stern gaze and powerful figure. His dark blue eyes pierced down at the bodies, thinking. "The end of an era, I think."

Another knight rode alongside him and dismounted, moving up closer on foot. He kneeled, also removing his helmet to reveal this time a tiger, and reached down to retrieve a small sword shaped talisman chained to one of the fallen.

"Templars…" he muttered, studying the silver trinket as it shone in the sun. "We are too late, Merlin."

Merlin, the fox, nodded once and also dismounted.

"Aye, Balian. We are," he spat, angered at the failure to reach the Templars in time. The Glorious Templars of the Brotherhood of the Sword, destroyed. Such honour, such glory, cast down like it had meant nothing at all.

Merlin turned to his comrades, now also all dismounted and gathering around him. "Luther," he spoke, nodding to another younger fox, "Count the bodies with Balian and make sure they are all accounted for. We need to know if any escaped. Sigismund," a white arctic wolf, "with your neophyte prepare last rites for the fallen. The rest of you, spread out and search for the Emerald. We _must_ find it."

The knights moved about their grim work. Merlin meanwhile moved to study the darker, broken metallic bodies of swatbots scattered across the sandy plain. They had been cleaved and shot, brutally torn to useless pieces of scrap metal. In the near distance were three crashed air speeders, smoke still rising from their charred engines. The few Templars had unleashed a horrendous amount of damage on Snively's army.

Merlin held little respect for most Orders not his own, but these Templars had always been something else, something great.

They had fought like lions.

"My Lord," a voice caught his attention. It was Azrael, Sigismund's neophyte apprentice. The boy was a young wolf, only fourteen years of age, one who was progressing well in learning the ways of knighthood. He held great promise, and Merlin had no trouble seeing him going on to earn much honour for the Knights Hospitaller. "The Templars are prepared for their final journey. All fourteen are accounted for, and one of them is Marshall Attias."

"Sad news indeed, lad. What of the Emerald?"

"No sign of it, My Lord."

Merlin took a deep breath and looked to the sky, his jaw clenching as he realised what was to come of their failure. "Snively has taken it, then." Even as he spoke the words he felt a mighty rage settle over his soul, knowing that this was an insult of the very greatest kind. It was akin to spitting over everything an Auroran Knight stood for, a mockery of a two-thousand five hundred legacy, a crime of the greatest kind.

This would not be allowed to stand. He could not, and would not, let this stain of dishonour remain, and he knew that each and every one of his companions would agree. It was their fault it had been taken, their mistake, and redemption could only be earned with its recovery. The souls of the Templars, he knew, would not let them rest until it was safe.

He looked back to Azrael, who only barely seemed to grasp fully what had happened, but knew when it was wise to keep quiet. Sigismund walked over to join them, standing next to his apprentice with a hand on the boy's shoulder. Balian followed, looking ashen.

"A Chaos Emerald hasn't been lost for over a thousand years," Balian said gravely. Merlin nodded.

"The Templars are gone. This is all that is left of them. Can you imagine such horror? Have you ever known an Order to be _wiped out_?" A dark smile took his features and he added with a growl, "Perhaps the Equestrians will now finally be convinced to act."

"What should we do? I would suggest, Merlin, that we ride home for reinforcement before setting after it. If Snively was able to force an Order like the Templars to attempt to carry an Emerald to another monastery, then what hope do we have of taking it back from his capital?"

Merlin eyed the tiger. "Marshall Tobias granted us the honour of joining the Templars in the rescue of their Chaos Emerald. We were not fast enough, so it is our fault and our responsibility that it has been stolen. We _must_ recover it immediately, or the shame will plague all Hospitallers forever."

"What does Snively know of an Emerald?" Sigismund wondered. "What threat does he pose with it?"

"He knows they are a source of power but little else," Merlin replied. "I spoke to him once on the subject, before he and his uncle showed their true colours. But regardless Sigismund, it would be like giving a newborn your pistol."

"But what could he do with it, My Lord?" Azrael asked. "If he does not know of it's true nature, then how could he possibly use it?"

"Only Aurora knows, lad. But, friends, consider this; he targeted the Templars with the intention of stealing their Emerald. Snively did not conduct this theft at random, he must have had this planned for some time. He _wants_ the Emerald for a reason."

Sigismund was stroking his jaw, and glanced down to his neophyte. "Azrael, what conclusion do you come to?" he asked, testing the wolf's reasoning.

"I agree with Sir Merlin," he answered. "It is true that we don't know what Snively wants the Emerald for, but there is structure to his moves. He has a plan, and whatever it is it cannot be for the good of Mobius. We must recover the Chaos Emerald as soon as possible, and that means marching on Robotropolis immediately."

Sigismund gave Azrael a short clap on the shoulder, his gauntlet ringing off from the wolf's battle plate. "A wise decision. You are learning well, lad!" he said in approval. "Castellan Merlin, we are with you."

Balian cleared his throat, "You act with honour Merlin, but I am not convinced. There are too few of us to succeed."

Merlin scratched his muzzle, thinking. Balian was correct- despite the potential for glory, an attempt with just the eight knights and two neophytes in his company would be suicide. But he had seen the destruction the human was capable of. Evidence of it lay just yards away, where the bodies of the Templars now lay neatly in a row, their weapons still grasped in their lifeless hands. The very risk of unleashing Snively with a Chaos Emerald for any length of time was unacceptable… But then it occurred to him; they did not have to be alone. He raised his voice.

"Astelan!"

A second Neophyte looked up, this one a cat, and made his way over. At a similar level of training to Azrael, Astelan's armour closely matched the others' but differed only slightly in the form of a two-foot long whipcord aerial emerging from a backpack. It was this neophyte's turn to be nominated and equipped to handle radio traffic between them, allowing his master to fully concentrate on the duty of fighting. It was not a difficult task as most power armour could cope on it's own anyway, but when it came to external communications they became vital. Bethor, his master, followed, as did the rest of the knights present.

"That message you intercepted… Princess Acorn is gathering her forces in Knothole village, is she not?"

"Yes, My Lord."

He looked back to Balian, who raised an eyebrow. "King Maximillian's daughter? I'm intrigued Merlin…"

"It is said that Holy Aurora will send all we need."

Balian studied the fox carefully, surprised at his suggestion. It was unlike Merlin to look upon the House of Acorn with any apparent favour, but eventually he nodded his approval of the plan.

"Good," Merlin concluded. "Astelan? Alert Marshall Tobias of what has happened here."

As Astelan made his transmission the Hospitallers went about their work, setting alight the bodies of the fallen Templars so as to aid their passage to Aurora's halls. But even as the knights did so, Balian made sure to draw Merlin quietly to one side.

"Are you quite sure of this?" he hissed. "I had thought you would sooner die than serve with Acorn's kind again."

"I am sure, old friend," Merlin replied. "The truth is I do not like the plan itself, but we cannot delay recovery of the Emerald for any length of time. You understand this?"

"Aye I do, and you know I will follow you if that is what you want. But we will be under the command of Maximillian's daughter… For all our sakes, remember that. It is Acorn's daughter, not Acorn himself. Don't brand her with the crimes of her father."

"I will not, Balian. I thank you for your concern… But I will not pre-judge her. We will travel to Knothole and speak to her about her plan, and see what advice we can offer. But we do not mention that we are there only for the Emerald; its recovery is our duty and our sacred task, and the shame need spread no further."

Balian sighed, "Very well." Merlin nodded his approval, and Balian found a point occurring to him that he hadn't considered before. "I must admit Merlin that I imagine that the Equestrians will be extremely upset if we were to recover an Emerald without their input…"

Merlin barked a laugh and gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Yes, probably. But I'm sure they will understand. Eventually."


	4. Chapter 3

07/07/2008 - Just fixing up a few errors and mistakes, nothing plot-changing. And yes, chapter 4 is on it's way!

11/03/2008 - So, another update! Quite a big chapter this time full of new ideas and forboding. Also here you will start to get a taste of the style of warfare I want to keep- I'm making a real effort not to go the way of making mobians fight like modern humans. Instead I want to play around with ideas much more in the realms of history and fantasy, so I'm interested what you guys make of the Royal Acorn Army.

Many thanks to Asher Tye and SoloWing, both of whom were kind enough to leave excellent feedback last time. For everyone else, please take just a minute to tell me your thoughts- any and all feedback is relied upon, and indeed craved!

**Chapter 3**

**Makeshift Legion / Plans / Loathe and Love**

"So you're all probably wondering just what you're doing out here in the Great Meadow," Griff said to the assembled Freedom Fighters of Knothole and Lower Mobius. Sixty-one mobians in all, standing in a loose line, each looking just as confused as the mobian next to him. "And, honestly, you'd be right to; this is kind of a departure from the norm, but bare with me and I'll explain everything."

The Freedom Fighters were gathered close to the edge of the Great Forest, its tree line and the safety it promised merely meters away. He'd chosen this space specifically for a reason as the forest would provide too little room to practice, so instead they stood with their feet soaked into the grass as a cool wind gusted about them. Rotor watched from nearby, a pile of large curved rectangular frames near his feet, old equipment from the days of the Royal Army, lovingly restored to working order by his skilled hands.

"You've all been briefed on the Apocalypse Cannon and the threat it represents, and you all know too that Princess Sally has been hard at work for the last few days planning out our mission to destroy it in minute detail. And, she does have a plan in mind – a sound plan in my opinion – but it will not work unless we all do our part. My duty for the next few days is to make sure that you all _know_ your part, to be able to do it in your sleep if you have to, because when you are under the stress of combat, no matter what hell is being thrown at you, you will at least still have this training to fall back on."

There was a general acknowledgement from the group, still unsure of what he was going to ask of them, but Griff nodded in approval all the same.

"Okay, so let's start with our part in the plan. Gather round." A stick in hand, he began to scrape a rough map into a patch of dirt for all to see, a line marking the Robotropolis perimeter wall with others to indicate where buildings were predicted to be, as well as an overall rendezvous point further into the city.

"The Princess has decided that we attack here," he said, tapping the stick on a point on the wall. "She chose it on account of it being both close to where the Apocalypse Cannon is believed to be, and being close to a number of prime targets to hinder Snively's ability to operate. However, if you notice here…"

Between the wall and the meeting point in a plaza was a completely open space, totally devoid of structures of any kind. An open no-mans land, a death trap.

"This area is a killing zone. It runs completely around the city, is patrolled regularly by swatbots, and is covered by a network of security cameras and blaster turrets." He paused to let the seriousness of the task sink in. "Our job is to get the demolition team from the wall to the rendezvous point safely, quickly, and as efficiently as possible so they can go in there and do their thing. And after that… well, we just have to go and raise hell."

"Won't… that attract a lot of attention?" a cat spoke up from the group.

"The Princess believes there are too many of us to sneak in quietly, so we're not even going to try. In fact, she's betting on us drawing as much attention as possible." Freedom Fighters glanced at each other, alarmed at the direction Griff was going as the goat continued. "The attack will be split into three teams; the north flank, south flank, and us; the centre. Now, tell me, how many of you have been in the Royal Army?" Three or four mobians raised their hands, and Griff felt his mouth twitch into a thin line.

"Good. Some of you know how to use one of these, then. As for the rest… well, you're going to have to learn pretty quick." He gestured towards Rotor, who ambled over with one of the frames in his hands. Griff took the frame- it came from his neck to his knees when held by a grip in the centre, his hand covered by a metallic bump. A button was hidden on the grip, and with a flick of his finger a transparent red energy field snapped into life and filled the inside of the frame.

"This is a tower shield. Standard equipment in the Legions, you've probably heard of them before but I'll go over their use anyway just in case. As you can see, when activated it protects the front of my body from attack. It can handle anything ranging from low tech projectiles right up to man-portable blaster cannons- for example, Jester, if you could?"

Griff turned the shield towards a mongoose, a Lower Mobius Freedom Fighter of many years and indeed one of the soldiers of the former Legions, who stepped from the group and drew a pistol. He took aim and fired, a bolt of light lancing out and striking the red energy field. Instantly it reflected back with a _crack-_ a number of Freedom Fighters jumped at how close the returned projectile came to them, snapping back downwards into the ground.

"Well, there you go," Griff continued with a nod towards Jester. "See what I mean? The idea of these is that each soldier carries one into battle; in the army when legionaries stand shoulder to shoulder they form a wall of shields, making them almost invulnerable to incoming fire from the front. It's a standard formation and tactic, and worked well throughout the Second Great War."

"So… we're going to make a shieldwall and just walk across no-mans land?" another of the ex-soldiers, a lynx, asked.

"Yeah, that's pretty much the idea."

The lynx nodded. "Right," he said and swallowed audibly. "Griff, I can almost see it working… if we had more trained legionaries here. It takes discipline and nerve to pull off a shieldwall, and that isn't something you can just learn overnight. If just one of us runs and breaks the formation, then that'll be it, game over."

"That's true," the goat acknowledged, "but I don't expect you just to get it tonight. Lucky for us, we have three days instead."

"Uh, that isn't quite what I meant-"

"I know, I know," Griff interrupted the lynx before he could finish. "But, unfortunately if we are going to play our part then it's all we have. We can't just sit and wait for Snively to start using that gun of his – rumour has it he's got everything he needs now to get it up and running – so let's get to it. Get yourselves a shield each, and we'll go over some basic manoeuvres…"

Not one of them noticed her, but it was only a short distance away where Sally watched as Griff begin to drill the Freedom Fighters. Concern was stamped all over her face.

"Do y'all really think this is gonna work?" Bunnie asked from beside her, rubbing her arms.

"I hope so Bunnie," Sally replied, "but I'm open to alternatives."

"Well ya know me Sally-girl, I have complete faith in ya. If 'in y'all are sayin that it's the only way, then ah'm behind ya."

Sally smiled at her friend. "Thanks Bunnie."

"Oui," Antoine added, "Your strategies, ma Princess, are being most sound. I am again once honoured that you have been picking me as your bodyguard!"

Sally glanced at the coyote, "Don't mention it, Antoine…"

"But ma Princess! I must be-"

"No,_really_, don't mention it," she interrupted, causing Bunnie to giggle quietly. "Come on, the others will be waiting by now."

The trio left the meadow and the Freedom Fighters as Griff began to drill them on the arts of formation and manoeuvre, walking through the foliage of the forest towards Knothole chatting idly as they went. It didn't take long to arrive back in the village whereupon they made a beeline for Sally's hut, the headquarters of the operation.

Knothole itself had changed over the last few days as various resistance groups had made their way to join the assault. Temporary quarters had been placed wherever the space was available to cope with the swelling population, and suddenly the streets were full of mobians as they went about their business. At first it had been an inspirational show of unity, a sight that had made Sally's heart swell with pride, until the inevitable effects of each Freedom Fighter group being a separate entity had reared its ugly head; politics had invaded Knothole with about as great a welcome as Robotnik himself. Upon arrival each group had quietly begun to vie for position within the battle plan and though not one of them would admit it in the open, it was there, the competition to prove themselves the most influential of the resistance in their monarch's ear. Suddenly Sally found herself not only presented with the Herculean task of planning and preparing a workable battle plan, but getting each group to settle into their role within it and _work together_.

It had been just four days since Snively took the Chaos Emerald.

To Sally, it felt like four years.

They soon arrived at the princess' hut, where inside discussing strategy over a paper map of Robotropolis stood Ari, Lupe, and Sonic. The three looked up as Sally, Bunnie and Antoine entered, and nodded in greeting.

"Sal, how's Griff?" Sonic asked as she joined them.

"He's just started. Looks like everyone's taking to the plan about as well as we could expect."

"The Wolf Pack is, of course, ready and willing to play it's part," Lupe said.

"I know, thanks Lupe," Sally replied. The Wolf Pack had indeed made it's use clear early on. Since their arrival in Knothole, they had taken on the majority of the reconnaissance missions to Robotropolis making use of their superb infiltration skills, locating a number of potential spots for the Apocalypse Cannon to be housed. A day later and they had had it narrowed down to just one, an open space between dark skyscrapers, once a park but now a hell of upturned dirt and rubble.

"Okay," she continued, "what about Pollo and Dirk?"

"Just south of the village," Ari answered. "They're briefing their own groups on their roles. Looks like you have your auxiliaries, Sally."

She flinched at the term, keenly aware of what the titles meant; a comparison to the Royal Acorn Army. In the days before Robotnik the army had consisted of 20 standing Legions with innumerable Auxiliary support, the two parts working together to form a cohesive whole.

Sally hated terming the Freedom Fighters so, but knew why it was necessary. After all, she had come up with the idea in the first place- the renowned Royal Army was a point of pride for all who lived under Acorn's rule, and she had been careful to use this as an advantage. The moment she described the battle plan to the Freedom Fighter factions, grouping the three main assault teams under these titles, they had begun to fall into place with ease. Each quickly got a bearing on and accepted their part in the overall scheme whilst military veterans from before the coup felt a moment of respect as their skills were called to the fore. It had worked perfectly.

"Yo Sal?" Sonic asked, breaking her moment of reflection, "Remind me again why we're bustin' in like this? What's wrong with sneakin' it like we always do?" They had been over this, multiple times, and whilst she understood why Sonic was so concerned about it she was starting to tire of explaining it repeatedly.

"Because, Sonic, there are too many of us to have a reasonable chance of getting in unnoticed. We can barely manage it now when there's four of us. This time, we have over a hundred!"

"So why don't jus' four of us go?"

"There is too much security," Lupe pointed out. Having seen it, she'd know better than anyone. "Even the Wolf Pack could not get past. Swatbots were everywhere, and I am sure combots too. It was like a wall of steel."

"Exactly," Sally concluded, "and Snively seems to be wising up to the old idea of using you as a decoy. The only reliable way to get him to pull security away from the Cannon will be to create a threat that's too big for him to ignore… and if he thinks that we've raised an army intent on removing him from power, well, he's bound to react."

"An' if he doesn't?"

"Then we go on and remove him," Ari concluded. "It's win-win for us."

Sonic folded his arms. "Hmph. I still don't like it Sal- it's too risky."

Ari replied simply, "War is about risks."

Sally found herself watching the ram. Out of all of them, it had been he who had been most keen on the idea. And it made sense, for there had been a time when Ari had been a lieutenant of his own cohort within the Legions. Griff had been a sergeant, just one rank beneath, and she supposed that that had gone a long way to explaining why they had been in command of their own resistance groups.

Ari had asked her why she hadn't assigned him command of the central assault instead of Griff, and there had been two reasons for it; the first, being that half of the 'legionaries' were Lower Mobius Freedom Fighters who had served under Griff anyway, but the second was much more delicate- vital even to the potential success of the plan. But that information was solely on a need to know basis, and indeed was the reason why she had gathered her most trusted allies to her hut whilst the others remained in the field at work.

"Anyway, I'm glad you could all make it here on such short notice," Sally said, forcing the conversation to where it needed to be. "Now it is absolutely vital that what is said here isn't to leave the room. Do you all understand?"

They all paused, surprised at the serious tone her voice had suddenly taken before nodding agreement. Sonic cocked an eyebrow.

"Good, because this is _very_ important. Now, we know that Snively has a ridiculous amount of security around the Cannon, and that our primary objective is to draw as much away from it as possible. That way we'll open a path for a bombing team to move in and sabotage it. The only question is, who is going to be on the bombing team…"

"I'm in Sal," Sonic immediately volunteered, which was no surprise at all to the princess.

"No, Sonic," she replied. "You need to be with the main force- you, out of all of us, can post the biggest threat to Snively. You have to be in the attack to draw his attention away. Instead, I'll be carrying the bomb, and Bunnie and Ari will come with me."

"Way uncool Sal!" the hedgehog responded immediately whilst Ari and Bunnie exchanged looks of bewilderment. "That's way too dangerous for just the three of ya! An Snively will be watchin' out for ya like a hawk!"

Sally sighed, "It's better than having too many of us. Three should be able to sneak in undetected. And besides…" she waved the group in closer and hushed her voice, "_I have a plan…_"

They spoke in hushed tones, and as Sally revealed the icing on the cake of the master plan grins formed on the faces of each and every Freedom Fighter. None could deny to acknowledge her brilliance; such a simple idea, one that would be easy to pull off, one that was guaranteed to make Sonic's attack in particular all the more effective…

They spoke on it until midday, engrossed on working out all the details and potential problems. Afterwards facilities and installations were picked and assigned as secondary targets so as to cause as much collateral damage to Robotropolis as possible, should things not quite go according to plan; the more damage caused then the more stretched Snively would be, and ultimately the easier it would become to destroy the Cannon.

By the time they were done the plan was complex, more than any had expected, but each mobian left the hut feeling more confident in what was to happen. Afterwards only Sonic and Sally remained, and the squirrel kept her eyes on the map as she and Sonic went over the minor details of their own personal goals.

"I keep thinking there is something I've forgotten," she said. Something important- maybe there is a better way which won't be so dangerous."

Sonic sighed. "Y'know, Ari's right. Everythin' up ta now has been a risk, an this ain't no different. We're at war, n' everyone's had to accept that that they might not make it, otherwise they wouldn't be here."

"I know, but... You understand what I mean, don't you?"

"Sure I do," he said, moving over and placing a hand on hers. "But there ain't no point in worryin' about a mistake you might have made. Heck, y've been around planning this thing in every way fer ages, working out all the kinks. And the Freedom Fighters with us are smart, they can all handle and think fer themselves. You've done enough already, more than any of us so far."

Sally looked at him, surprised, and allowed a small smile to crack.

"Sonic Hedgehog, that might be the smartest thing you've said this year."

Sonic grinned and struck a pose, "Hey, never underestimate _The Hedgehog_,Sal."

Sally returned his smile and cast a glance out the window. Yes, Sonic was right- she had put so much thought into this that it was the best she could make it. There might be mistakes- but staring at it constantly wouldn't help. She needed some rest.

--

It was under the cold grey sky that same day that the Knights Hospitaller made their grand entrance to Knothole. Merlin, at the head of the column, rode slowly forward with a posture born of pride, ignorant of the light spots of rain that ran off his travelling cloak. Beneath he wore a tunic of red and yellow in the manner of his Order's heraldry over tough leather breaches, his armour discarded and stored safely in the saddlebags of his steed. His weapons remained however, secured by the thick belt that ran twice around his waist, and his forearms were covered with a set of elaborately decorated leather gauntlets as his hands clutched the reins. He wore an expression of stern authority, fitting for a knight of his rank, and eyed the town suspiciously as they approached.

Abraxas, his steed, walked forward steadily with dignity and a suppressed power born of years of intensive conditioning and selective breeding. He crushed fallen leaves and bracken under hoof as they entered the town, alerting the attention of mobians nearby, and Merlin raised his muzzle to sniff the air. There was a crispness about Knothole, a cold bite that made it clear that autumn was here. He frowned- cold weather like this had the tendency to make his scars ache.

Abraxas snorted towards what had to be Freedom Fighters, hard at work training themselves in what looked like hand-to-hand combat. Merlin suppressed a smile of agreement, merely reaching round to pat his neck reassuringly.

"I see them," he muttered. To his eyes, they looked more like peasants than soldiers.

Merlin watched their faces, judging their reactions as best he could whilst keeping a carefully neutral expression himself. Very few Mobians recognised them for what they were, which wasn't surprising in the least; Auroran Knights hadn't bothered to involve themselves to any great extent in the politics of Mobius since the Second Great War.

Merlin brought his company to a halt with a raised hand. Balian, as always, found his place by his side, just as the fox cleared his throat and spoke to the small gathering crowd.

"My name is Sir Merlin Prower, and I am a Castellan of the Holy Order of the Knights Hospitaller. I am here with my fellow knights in the name of the Blessed Goddess Aurora, and I wish to meet with Princess Sally Acorn. Who here will take me to her?"

The gathered Freedom Fighters began to mutter amongst themselves, until one stepped forward. It was a ram, well built and powerful, and Merlin looked down at him with interest.

"Well that depends on what you want to see her about," the ram said. Instantly Merlin returned a disarming smile, almost like it was second nature.

"Yes, of course. Forgive me; what is your name, Freedom Fighter?"

"Ari," he replied, chin up, refusing to be intimidated by Merlin's height advantage.

"Ari, well met, it is an honour. Do you speak for her?"

"I do, right now. So why _are_ you here?"

Merlin pondered the question, taking his time by dismounting from Abraxas and stepping forward closer to the Freedom Fighter.

"We received word a few days ago that Princess Acorn had called all available Freedom Fighters to Knothole to make an assault on Robotropolis, to destroy Robotnik's evil forever. We are here to honour our allegiance to the Kingdom of Acorn. We want to help."

Ari nodded, tapping a hand to his chin, and glanced back to the crowd. "Well, the more the merrier," he replied. "You're Knights Hospitaller? You know… I've heard of your kind before, my father mentioned you once. You were involved in the last Great War, weren't you? Rumour has it you got trashed."

Merlin bristled at the insult, intentional or not, and felt rather than saw his knights restraining themselves from snapping back. But he hid his anger as well as he could, and stared Ari in the eye for the moment. "Aye, we fought in alliance with Acorn. We lost many brave knights true, but they died with honour, for Aurora and for Mobius. You would do well to treat their memory with respect."

Ari blinked and held his hands up, "Alright, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just a bit curious is all, where have you been since Robotnik showed up?"

It wasn't a good start, and personally Merlin wasn't too surprised. Balian he knew would be willing to explain, but as far as the fox was concerned he had more pressing matters at hand. He stared at Ari once more for a moment, simply replying, "Perhaps we will talk of it later. But first, Ari, I must speak with Princess Acorn."

"Ah can handle that," a southern-accented voice chipped in, diffusing the situation. Merlin looked over to see a rabbit approaching, one bearing the bizarre disfigurement of a collection of robotisized limbs. He nodded towards her.

"I would be thankful, my lady. How should I address you?"

"Mah name's Bunnie, sugar. But what did ya say yr name was again?"

He told her, quietly making a mental note of her reaction to his name. Most interesting; it meant something to her he was certain, and wondered if he had some lingering fame from his time associating with King Acorn's Royal Court. Or was it something else? As he watched, her expression turned from surprise to a brief flash of concern. And then it was gone, lost in a fake smile, and she turned and ventured deeper into Knothole Village.

Merlin glanced back towards Balian, wondering if he had noticed it too. By the looks of things he had, his eyebrows raised in interest, and nodded towards the fox slightly in acknowledgement.

Merlin raised a hand and gestured for the company to dismount. They did so, each keeping his steed by the reins, and moved into a loose group to await Princess Sally's presence.

'Now let's see if she's worth the effort,' Merlin thought to himself as a cold wind ran through the village.

--

"So watcha thinkin' of havin, Sal?" Sonic asked as he and Sally made their way towards the dining hall. "I'm goin for a mondo pile of chilidogs, can't be beat!"

Sally glanced at him and rolled her eyes as he licked his lips loudly. "Disgusting," she muttered, "not chilidogs, that's for sure. Some fruit I think, good for the brain. Hmm, maybe you should have some, I think you could do with it."

Sonic snorted. "Who, moi? Hey I don't think so, Sal."

"Well, I do."

"And I don't!"

"And I do!"

Sonic grinned and began to laugh. Sally soon giggled too, feeling a wave of tension flowing out of her. It was a stupid argument, but it was_normal_, and Mobius knew she needed it right now.

The arrived at the hall, which had gone up into overdrive over the last week as more and more mobians had arrived. It was, as usual for these days, filled with hungry Freedom Fighters taking breaks between their training and planning, and the atmosphere was breezy openness full of chatter and jokes.

They gathered their meals from the counter, as planned with Sally taking mostly fruit and Sonic an unhealthy amount of chilidogs. They found a table with ease, Freedom Fighters recognising them and respectfully making room. A few spoke to them, and like the leaders they were both Sonic and Sally replied with confidence and reassurance. Sally in particular didn't feel assured herself, but then the Freedom Fighters didn't need to know that, and were better off that way.

They exchanged small talk as they ate, Sonic being very careful to steer the topic away from the attack on Robotropolis whenever possible, and all was well until a third voice made itself known.

"Sonic, Aunt Sally!" called Tails, accompanied by the gentle 'fwip-fwip' of his twisting namesakes as he swept down through the doorway towards them. Sonic called out a greeting as he gulped down the remains of a chilidog (causing Sally to turn up her nose in disgust. Where were his manners?). "I've been looking all over for you for ages," Tails continued, dropping to the floor next to their table, "where have you been?"

"Sorry T2," Sonic replied much clearer without the chilidog in his mouth. "We've been kinda busy…"

"Yeah, I'll say," the fox said looking around at the packed hall. "What's goin' on, Aunt Sally?"

Sally paused, surprised that he didn't know. Of course Rosie had kept him away from the general meeting when the Freedom Fighters has been told of the Apocalypse Cannon, but she'd expected that he would have wormed the truth out of _someone_ by now.

"Hasn't Bunnie told you…?" she asked carefully. The rabbit had been assigned over the last few days as Tails' immediate caretaker, replacing Sally from the rota the two shared of looking after him.

"No, I only see her in the evening and she keeps telling me to ask you. But Rosie's lessons have kept me busy, an' I couldn't find you whenever I looked. …I've missed you, Aunt Sally."

Truth be told, she'd missed him too. But she couldn't bare to tell him what she expected to happen at Robotropolis, and what would happen if they failed. How would he take it, what would his reaction be? It was the main reason she'd ordered Bunnie and Rosie to keep him so busy… and the reason why she had been careful to avoid him all week.

But it couldn't have lasted forever, so she mentally braced herself for what was to come.

"I know honey, and I'm sorry," she replied. "I've missed you too." Tails smiled.

"So what's going on?" he asked. "There's Freedom Fighters everywhere, an' it's like they're preparing for something." Abruptly, his eyes lit up and his voice quickened. "It's something big, right? Are we going to take on Snively?"

"Yes… Yes, _we_ are, Tails." The boy certainly didn't catch the meaning Sally had intended, his enthusiasm continuing unabated. He switched over to Sonic.

"Really, you mean it? For real? We're actually going to defeat him this time?"

"You know it, T2!" Sonic smiled with a thumbs-up. "This is the big one, we're takin needle-nose down for good!"

"Awesome!" he exclaimed, pumping a small gloved fist in the air. "Freedom Fighters forever! So, what's the plan?"

"Tails…" Sally began, "this is not going to be a normal mission. It's not recon, and we aren't going to be blowing up any particular factory… We're going to attack Snively's headquarters. It's going to be very well protected, and I know that not even Sonic is going to find it easy."

Tails' ears drooped, and his excitement began to drain away. He seemed to know just where this was going, but held on anyway.

"So… what am I going to do?" he asked.

"Honey, you're going to stay here with Rosie-"

"No!" the kit interrupted, stamping his foot in sudden anger. Freedom Fighters from surrounding tables looked over briefly, but quickly turned away and pretended not to be listening. "No, I'm not! I'm a Freedom Fighter now, you said so yourself! I'm going too!"

"Tails, no. It's too dangerous!"

"I don't care! Mobius is my home too, and you always take _Antoine_ with you! And he doesn't even want to go!"

"That's because Antoine is a trained Royal Guardsman," Sally pointed out. "Tails, you're only ten years old! If you go, there are terrible things you will see and do that will affect you for the rest of your life. I don't want to put you through it."

"I can handle it Aunt Sally! I can, honest!" seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere, he switched tracks to look at his hero who, so far, had managed to stay out of it. "Sonic, _please_ tell her! Tell her I can go!"

Sonic glanced at Sally, who shot him a glare. He was stuck in a limbo; on one hand, he knew that Tails was quickly becoming a more than capable Freedom Fighter. The events at Drood Henge had proven that; but it was true that he was still a child… and this mission promised much more danger than usual.

"Tails, I'm gonna have to side with Sal on this one… She's right, this is gonna get mondo ugly. If anything' goes wrong then you'll be in real danger, an' I mean serious danger. 'Sides, someone's gotta guard Knothole, an' it has to be someone who knows what's what! You're perfect for the job, Big Guy!"

Tails wasn't buying it. He looked at Sonic with betrayal written all over his face.

"But you said, Sonic…" he muttered, "you said I was a Freedom Fighter too. It isn't fair! Why do you keep lying to me?" Sonic froze, unsettled by the accusation.

"We're not lying to you Tails," Sally tried, her patience beginning to fail her. With the stress of the last few days, this was not something she was prepared to handle right now. "We just don't want to see you getting hurt!"

Tails glared at her, and she knew that the argument could only get worse. Silently she prayed he would stop, but it wasn't to be.

"But I won't get hurt! I can look after myself!"

"Be_quiet_, Tails!" she abruptly snapped, startling the kit into silence. The background noise of the hall also fell, unnoticed by all. "You will_not_ be going with us! This will not be a game, this will not be an adventure! It is not something for a _child_! This is a _war_, Tails, do you understand? _A war!"_

Just as quickly as she lost it, Sally regained her self control. Her mouth snapped shut with the click of teeth, and suddenly she felt a great well of shame as she saw the hurt in Tails' eyes. The boy stepped back, his eyes becoming noticeably wet.

But then the situation was interrupted in the form of Bunnie entering the dining hall, who darted over calling her name.

"Hey Sally-girl? Y'all are gonna want ta see this," Bunnie said. Sally blinked, her mind still focused on Tails, who took the opportunity to run from the hall.

"Tails!" Sonic called after him, but the fox ignored him. Bunnie watched in surprise.

"Hey, what's goin' on? Is sugar-fox okay?"

"Sal, that was way uncool," Sonic said darkly. Sally grit her teeth and took a deep breath.

"What's wrong, Bunnie?" she replied, her words clipped and to the point. Bunnie looked after Tails briefly, tempted to follow, but realised that Sally's tone of voice left no room for argument.

"Well- uh, it's some fellas makin a big ol' ruckus over the other side of Knothole. They're askin for ya by name." Sonic immediately perked up. "Ya both need to come on over an' see."

"Some bozos causin' trouble? What do ya mean, Bunnie?"

"Naw Sugar-hog, these folks ain't causin no trouble… But they're sure makin a scene."

The group quickly left the hall amongst the stares of other Freedom Fighters, and Sally gave a glance look round to see if she could spot a certain fox in the street. "He hates me," the princess muttered with a sigh.

"There was no need for that, Sal," Sonic said.

"I know, I just…" she said, feeling terrible. "I'll make it up to him once this is over, I promise."

"Yeah well, I'm gonna go see him now-"

"Doncha go yet, Sugar-hog!" Bunnie interrupted. "Jus' wait, y'all need to see these fellas!"

Sonic clearly wanted to go after the fox regardless from his body language alone, but Sally clamped a hand firmly on his shoulder before he could disappear. "Wait, Sonic, just a minute," she said. Then, partially in her duty as leader of the Freedom Fighters and partially to escape her own guilt, Sally leapt on the opportunity to change the subject. "Bunnie, is there anything we should know about these people?"

"Well I ain't got much to tell ya, but yeah, there is one thing. An' I hate ta say it, but it's relating to sugar-fox back there. See 'im, there?" She pointed as the subject of the conversation came into view. "Look familiar at all? He says his name is 'Sir Merlin Prower'… An' I'm sure y'all can get the rest."

Sally stopped, and grasped at Bunnie's shoulder. "What?" she hissed. "His name is 'Prower'?"

"S'what he says, an he brought it up," Bunnie replied, understanding the princess' concern. "I haven't mentioned lil' ol' Tails to 'im at all."

Sonic had also caught the link, and thoughts of the upset fox were momentarily put to one side as he eyed the cloaked newcomer who seemed completely oblivious, deep in conversation with another mobian in similar dress.

"I gotta weird feelin' about this, Sal," Sonic voiced his opinion. "D'ya think it's Tails' dad?"

"I don't know, Sonic," she replied. "Bunnie, has he asked about him, at all?"

"Not one bit. But ya know speaking ta him, all I can think is; that there is Tails, thirty years from now."

They lingered for a few moments, each of them looking in wonder at the fox.

"D'ya know Bunnie, I'm startin' ta think you're onto somethin' there," Sonic said quietly. "D'ya think Tails might know who he is?"

"No," Sally said too quickly, catching her friends' attention and pulling them back behind a hut. "No, we can't let him know… At least, not yet. We need to find out more about these people first," she added, reaching down to the computer holstered in her boot.

"Nicole, give me anything you have on 'Sir Merlin Prower'."

"One entry found, Sally," the machine droned. "Sir Merlin Prower, Castellan of the Holy Order of the Knights Hospitaller. Had active relations with the Kingdom of Acorn between 3214 and 3223, including close involvement with the Royal Court and King Maximillian Acorn. Was last seen in the Kingdom in 3224."

"Just before the coup…" Sally muttered. "Is there any information on his family?"

"Negative, Sally."

"That could mean anything, Sally-girl," Bunnie pointed out. Sally nodded, still thinking.

"Nicole, what about these 'Knights Hospitaller'? Who are they?"

"Accessing, Sally… The Holy Order of the Knights Hospitaller, one of a number of secretive religious Knightly Orders that are believed to have been founded in the mid-1300s. They are heavily indoctrinated with the Auroran Faith, and historically show regular co-operation with the Kingdom of Acorn in comparison to other known Auroran Orders; recent examples include the First Great War in 3166, and the Second Great War in 3216."

"Yo Nicole," Sonic interrupted, "if they like helpin' the Kingdom out so much, where've they been since 'ol 'Buttnik showed up?"

"Unknown, Sonic, my main hedgehog."

"Well I guess there's just one way ta find out," Sonic said, his legs already jumping into motion.

"Wait, Sonic!" Sally snapped, "We have to be careful with this. No one is to mention Tails to any of them, just in case."

"What?" Sonic replied, pausing. "But Nicole says that it's cool, Sir Merlin knows your father!"

"Sugar-hog's got a point Sally-girl," Bunnie added. "How would you be feelin' if King Acorn walked on into Knothole one day and no one told y'all?"

"Look, Bunnie, Sonic. I understand what you mean, but I will not risk Tails on a coincidence. The only link is their name, that's all- just how many 'Prowers' do you think exist across Mobius? There could have been thousands before Robotnik. We need to be careful and not get his hopes up, do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand Sal. But jus' so ya know, I don't agree with it," Sonic grumbled. Together they rounded the hut and approached the group, who upon noticing them all stood straighter and bowed.

Sally approached at a steady pace, her expression carefully neutral. "Sir Merlin Prower," she greeted, "on behalf of the Freedom Fighters and the former Kingdom of Acorn, I welcome you and your companions to Knothole."

"Well met, Princess Sally Acorn," Merlin replied, returning her gaze with an easy smile. "It is an honour to meet you once again."

Sally stopped before him, quickly taking mental notes of his body language and appearance. Like Bunnie had said, he did indeed resemble Tails, though whether that was due to a family link or simply because they were both foxes was up for debate. He was relaxed, moving with a practiced grace in the face of royalty that spoke of years of past experience, and conveyed a calmness in his stance that was quite welcoming. A favourite of the Royal Court indeed; the charisma he displayed matched Nicole's information perfectly.

"Forgive me; have we met before?" she asked.

"Yes, a few times actually. You do not remember?" A voice behind him barked a short laugh, and a tiger moved up beside the fox.

"Her Royal Highness would have been four years old at the time Merlin, it is hardly surprising," the tiger said with a grin. Merlin responded with a chuckle of his own.

"Aye, of course. Princess Sally, may I introduce my brother in arms, Sir Balian." Sally nodded towards the tiger, taking stock of him. The tiger was big, easily matching Ari in terms of bulk, and his travelling cloak only made him appear even larger. He bore an expression of pride, perhaps more welcoming than Merlin, but appeared to know his place standing slightly behind and to the side of the fox.

"It is a pleasure, Sir Balian. And this is my comrade," she said with a gesture to her left, "Sonic Hedgehog."

Both Merlin and Balian's eyebrows raised as Sonic shot to Sally's side. "The one and only!" he chirped, "The True Blue, comin' atcha!"

Merlin smiled. "The famous Sonic the Hedgehog. We are indeed honoured. Stories of your glory have travelled across Mobius, I trust that most of them at least are true…?"

"Hey, you kiddin? No-one lies about _this_Hedgehog."

"What brings you to Knothole, Sir Merlin?" Sally interrupted before Sonic could run loose into a tirade of his own heroism.

"Ah. Neophyte Astelan," he said gesturing back to one of his knights, a cat who bowed at mention of his name, "happened upon a communication that you sent five days ago. From it we learnt that you were calling any available Freedom Fighters to Knothole for a matter of grave importance… That you are going to attempt an assault upon Robotropolis itself, with the aim of defeating Robotnik's evil once and for all."

"That's right," Sally nodded. "The attack begins at dawn, two days from now."

"Then we are just in time. We crusade here to join the liberation of your Kingdom."

Sally nodded, suspicious. There had been many times they had encountered mobians willing to help who all turned out to have very different agendas… Granted, most (if not all) had redeemed themselves in the name of Freedom, but this time the potential link to Tails made her all the more careful.

"May I ask why?" she questioned, and Merlin blinked, apparently caught off guard. He said nothing for a moment, the knights looking at each other.

"You reject us?"

"No," Sally quickly added, "No I'm not refusing your help, but I have to wonder why you are suddenly turning up now. We've been at war for ten years, and haven't heard anything about you. Now suddenly we're seeing knights everywhere, first in the Great Unknown and now here."

"Perhaps you refer to our brother Order, the Glorious Templars of the Brotherhood of the Sword?" said Merlin. "They were destroyed to a man merely days ago by Robotnik's nephew… and in all honesty your Highness, yes we do hope to avenge their deaths. But we also hope to save Mobius. Until now, there have been too few of us to do it alone, but now finally you are rebuilding your army." Sally was sure she flinched at the way he described the Freedom Fighters so, but if he noticed he made no sign of it. "With our help, you stand a very real chance of removing Robotnik's evil forever."

She nodded, her mind running a mile a minute. Memories of how the Templars had fought in the Great Unknown came rushing back, and Sally found herself posed with the question; despite her doubts, could she_afford_ to turn away warriors like these? Amongst a force of civilians and levies, a group of ten highly trained disciplined warriors might be just what was needed to cement the Freedom Fighter alliance together. But not only that- they would form the ultimate counter to Snively's combots, and the perfect mix with Griff's assault group. "Alright, I understand… And what is the price of your help?"

"Only that you accept our aid," he replied. "The Blessed Goddess Aurora willed us to be here, and so we obey."

"…and that's it?"

"That is all we ask."

Sally glanced back at Sonic, who didn't seem to share any of her suspicion at all.

"Hey I like you, Merl," the hedgehog said with a grin. The fox didn't appear the least bit impressed with the nickname, a barely visible frown flashing briefly across his face. "Ya just wanna smash some 'bots too, eh?"

"…something like that," the knight replied.

"Well y've come to the right place alright. This is gonna be intense, so any help is welcome, right Sal?"

"Right, Sonic," Sally said curtly, and gave him a sharp kick to the shin. "_Sir Merlin_," she continued, stressing the fox's name for the hedgehog's sake, "I am told that your Order has helped my father's Kingdom before…?"

"That is correct, your Highness. My Order has always held the greatest respect for the Acorn bloodline, and we share a long and glorious history."

Sally thought for a moment. "I don't remember my father ever mentioning you." Merlin stared at her for a moment, and she was taken aback at how intense his eyes could be before he gave a curt reply.

"Well that does not surprise me."

"Why not?"

Merlin's jaw clenched almost imperceptibly. "Your father and I had a disagreement. That is all."

"May I ask what about?"

"A personal matter. It is not your concern, your Highness."

Sally studied Merlin carefully, alarms ringing in her head. Finally, her suspicions were being confirmed. A carefully formed mask of respect was cracking, and behind she was reading a number of select details about the Knight Hospitaller, and the first – and perhaps most important -- was that Merlin was a very good actor. Whilst his posture and attitude pointed towards him being entirely on the level, she could see by the shift of his weight and the tightness of his jaw that this was a very touchy subject. There was bad blood here between the knight and her father, and that concerned her greatly.

"I am sorry to hear that Sir Merlin," she said, "but that must have been at least ten years ago. Perhaps you should try to make amends with him? He is alive, though trapped in the Void… But he _is_ a good man."

"Is he," came the flat reply. Sally couldn't help but notice how Merlin didn't care to ask what the Void even _was_.

"Of course, he cares about his people more than anything. What has he done to upset you?"

Merlin's mouth tightened into a thin line. "If he is indeed alive, I would suggest that you ask him yourself, your Highness. And whilst you are at it, ask him about my nephew, Miles," he snapped, his words as cold as ice. Balian quickly stepped forward and placed a hand on Merlin shoulder, pulling him away from the Freedom Fighters and whispering something into the fox's ear. Instantly Merlin calmed, the façade of calm diplomacy returning, and regarded the princess in a new light with a deep breath.

Meanwhile, the knights completely missed the look of astonishment that struck all three Freedom Fighters. "Well I think that answers your question, Sally-girl," Bunnie muttered, as Sonic's mouth dropped open. Whilst it had been suspected, the sudden confirmation took them all by surprise and they were barely able to cover it up before the knights turned back to them.

"Forgive me, Princess Acorn. I spoke out of turn, and meant no offence," Merlin apologised. "It is just a sore spot for me… and I realise that you and King Maximillian are two very different people." It took a moment for Sally to find her voice.

"No, I'm sorry too Sir Merlin. I shouldn't have pressed the issue… But – if I may ask – what do you mean about your nephew?" The fox stared sharply at her with his piercing blue eyes, and for the second time Sally began to feel like she were a bug under a microscope.

"It is not important. Please, forget it, Princess Acorn. Now if I can get back to the matter at hand… Politics aside, will you accept our help? All we ask is for the opportunity to avenge our brother Order and serve Mobius."

Sally glanced to Sonic, who clearly had more to ask, but if the fox didn't want to talk about his nephew then they had to respect his wishes. But she resolved to find out more, later, and for the meantime settled for a smile that she hoped didn't look as wooden as it felt.

"Yes, we accept. Sonic is right; anyone is welcome if they want to join the fight for freedom. Welcome to the resistance."

"We are honoured," Merlin said, but Sally couldn't help but feel like his tone was a little too rehearsed to be genuine.

--

Two more days passed, two days of intensive drilling and training for the Freedom Fighters. Two days for Sally to work out the kinks of the battle strategy, to make sure that each and every Freedom Fighter knew their part, to hope and pray that everything would go as planned.

Each day, Griff unleashed a hellish regime of repetition and discipline. The mobians under his command gave him their all, questions on 'why' quickly giving way as they began to learn how to trust each other with their lives in a way most of them found to be alien. An obstacle course was set up within the Great Forest, eventually involving live fire, and again and again Griff would order his unit to advance in the face of the barrage. By the end of the first day, the Freedom Fighters had begun to jokingly refer to Griff's mobians as the '21st Legion', a point of pride for the quickly cementing unit.

A short distance to the east of Knothole, the firing range was filled with flurries of blaster fire as Freedom Fighters honed their aim. Indeed, Griff's legionaries would frequent the field whenever possible to get used to hitting a target with a pistol whilst simultaneously wielding a tower shield- no mean feat, and even the veterans took time to get back to the level of skill they had once possessed. It was here that Antoine spent most of his time, determined not to prove useless when the moment came, and so for hours he stood with a pistol outstretched in one hand and the other tucked up around behind his back, snapping shots downrange. And it helped too; by the time he called an end to his practice his aim had clearly improved at greater and greater distances, and whenever he took a break he sat with the feeling that he had truly accomplished something.

With the arrival of Merlin and his company of Knights Hospitaller, Sally had made sure that Tails was to be kept busy and far away from their haunts, having confided in Rosie the evening of their arrival on the argument the two had had. Still burying herself in her work, she said that she didn't have the time to make up with him during the day but promised that she would later at bedtime the night before the attack; it was a promise designed to cheer him up that she would, definitely, visit him to read a story. But Tails just didn't appear to care, a reaction that Rosie knew to be false.

Considering themselves a separate entity to the Freedom Fighters, the Auroran Knights had found their own means by which to keep occupied. An area close to the Great Meadow was commandeered by Merlin to allow for their own form of sparring, and they spent much of the day there practising the craft of war.

The Neophytes observed the Initiates in action as much as participating themselves, standing to one side and observing their senior's work closely, learning from the moves the knights made and applying such techniques mentally to their own form. Their relevant masters, Sigismund and Bethor, separated themselves from the Initiates early to join the two boys and provide traditional one-on-one tuition in the form of a sparring duel; a technique that had on more than one occasion in the Order's history proved to be a brutal, and sometimes fatal, method of training.

But these Neophytes were learning well, having been at their masters' side for years and were well on their way to developing their own technique. Astelan in particular was on the road to creating an aggressive form though apparently still had a way to go; whenever he over-reached a strike Bethor would easily step out of the way and kick him to the ground, a reoccurrence that Azrael found amusing right until the point that Sigismund punished him for his failings in exactly the same way.

It was the day before battle that Sally Acorn observed the Hospitallers unnoticed from beneath the trees a short distance away, much like her observation of the 21st Legion two days before. Kicking her feet in the dirt, she was still indecisive about what to do with Merlin Prower. She and Sonic had spent the previous evening discussing in depth the possible relation between the knight and Tails; whether or not to make each one aware of the other, and if they did what would come of it.

Secretly, Sally was terrified of the prospect of Merlin wanting to take Tails away. Partially it was fear of the chance of her never seeing the boy again, but even more so was what would happen to Tails if he _did_take him; even now Merlin now stood fencing off against another knight, their swords crashing against each other with the wicked crack of steel. Sally wouldn't allow Tails near Robotropolis for fear for his safety… Would Merlin share the same priorities?

Despite this, Sonic had won the debate through his good heart. And the hedgehog had been right; his argument revolved around the fact that, had his family arrived in Knothole and left without anyone telling him of their presence, he would feel more betrayed then at any other time in his life. He wasn't prepared to do that to Tails, even if he had had the best intentions, and when Sally put herself in the same situation she realised that he was right.

Eventually, they had agreed to tell the foxes. It was the right thing to do. For Merlin because he had the _right_ to know as potentially Tails' only living relative, and for Tails could make his own choice on what to do about it. She would just have to deal with the outcome when the time came.

She wished Sonic were here; having him around would boost her confidence immeasurably, but it couldn't be helped. He was currently running recon around Robotropolis for last minute details that could affect the attack, and when it came down to it _that_ was still more important than the fate of just one young fox… Even one as important to her as Tails.

Taking a deep breath, Sally took the plunge and walked out into the clearing towards the Auroran Knights.

Balian was the first to notice her, and bowed a greeting. Just like on the day of their arrival the knights were a striking alternative to the Templars they had witnessed in the Great Unknown, this time baring no heraldry but instead being clothed in various leathers, their weapons thickly belted at their waists. Gone was the vague robian image the Templars had possessed, and the result was a far less intimidating presence. Sally found herself feeling much more relaxed, and returned Balian's greeting with ease.

"Sir Balian," she said, and the tiger smiled politely.

"This is an unexpected pleasure, your Highness. Do you wish to speak with Sir Merlin?"

"I do. Is this a good time?"

"Of course, just one moment…"

The tiger stepped away and approached Merlin, quickly catching the fox's attention. They exchanged a few words before separating, and Sally soon found herself face to face again with the older mobian.

"Princess Sally," he said, his fur a little damp with sweat. Once again Sally was struck by the feeling that something was just _slightly_ off; once again, she was struck by the intensity of the fox's stare. "To what do I owe this honour…?"

For a long moment, she was taken by the urge to make something up, to pretend that she was here on a different matter entirely. But she pressed onwards with an iron will born of years of guerrilla warfare, and forced herself to speak the words she had dreaded so much. The only consolation she could find was that she was not doing this for Merlin; she was doing it for Tails, for what greater gift could there be than to reunite a loved one with their family?

"I need to speak with you on a… private matter, Sir Merlin. Can you come with me…?"

The fox's eyes bored into her. Abruptly, he nodded in response. "Very well, my lady, lead the way."

She took him deep into Knothole, threading through the groups of mobians making their last-minute preparations, until they arrived at her hut. They entered, and he unbelted his weapons and propped them up against the wall.

"What is it you want to talk to me about?" he asked, his curiosity apparently sparked. Sally took another deep breath, knowing that there would be no going back now. As much as the mission tomorrow, she silently prayed to whatever gods watched from above that she wasn't making a mistake.

"It's about your nephew, Miles…"

--

A full hour passed before Merlin returned to his comrades, looking somewhat pale beneath his fur. Balian intercepted him before the knights saw his state, concerned for his Castellan. It had been ten years since he had seen him like this.

"Merlin?" said, catching the fox's attention. "What did Acorn want?"

Merlin stopped, looking at the floor for a short time before replying, simply, "Miles is alive." Balian took a sharp intake of breath, understanding fully how important this was to his friend.

"He lives? How, you told me he died with his mother?"

Merlin grit his teeth, forced back again in his mind to a sight that he would rather forget. "I found Rosemary's body, remember, Balian? She had taken Miles with her, and when I couldn't find him, I assumed… And I know to never assume, but how could he have survived for so long in a river, alone?"

"Merlin, come," Balian said, drawing the fox to the tree line away from the Hospitallers. By now one or two had noticed the return of the Castellan, but Balian waved them to continue with their exercises. "The company is occupied, so you have time. Tell me everything."

"Acorn told me… it was Sonic who found him, floating downriver. He must have travelled for miles before they found him. It's a miracle. Aurora herself must have been looking over the boy."

"Aye, if it's true then he has friends in high places, I think. You said yourself that Aurora sends what we need… And she guided us here, did she not?"

"She must have. This doesn't feel like coincidence. And after this battle, if King Acorn is still alive and returned to the throne, imagine his reaction! The Freedom Fighters have looked after Miles for the past ten years, and from the way Acorn spoke it seemed like she saw him almost as her own child…" Abruptly, Merlin paused and barked a hollow laugh. "Such an irony, Balian! Miles Prower survives against the odds only to end up being raised by Princess Sally Acorn, and neither of them have any idea of the history between their two families! What are the odds? It's like fate itself brought them together. What would Maximillian say, if he knew?"

Balian didn't share the other's mirth. "I would suspect, after what you have told me, that Maximillian would try to have the boy, shall we say, 'removed'."

Merlin's laughter died out as the tiger's words sank in, a dark anger taking over. He said nothing for the longest time, instead staring off into the distance.

"That's not going to happen," he said finally, his tone laced with quiet promise. "I swear it. I won't fail Miles like I did Rosemary."

"So… what will you do?" Balian prompted. Merlin frowned in thought.

"I don't know," he finally admitted. "What do you think I should do?"

"I think you should see him, for a start. Make sure that he is really your nephew, and that this isn't just a misunderstanding."

"It can't be a mistake, Acorn knew too much-"

"Don't get your hopes up, Merlin! Don't trust Acorn's words alone, go and see him for yourself. Make up your own mind if he is really the one."

"If he is… Aurora guide me, what do I do?"

"That, you will have to decide for yourself old friend, when the time comes."

--

That evening Tails waited for Sally with a frown, not knowing what to expect. He was still angry, both at the denial of his involvement tomorrow (and the quickly dawning fact that he wasn't _really_ a Freedom Fighter at all), and the feeling that everyone except Rosie had spent the day avoiding him. It drove him up the wall in frustration, and made him just want to scream to get someone's,_anyone's_ attention.

Sonic had visited him briefly last night but he had pretended to be asleep, still hurt that he had taken Sally's side on the situation. He hadn't done that for a long time, and Tails had honestly believed that Sonic out of everyone was the one to get him taken seriously. But apparently not, and that had just made him madder as the hedgehog had stood over his bed, trying to get his attention.

His eyes were fixated on the door, locked in a stare as if he were trying to force it to give away who might be on the other side. How long would he have to wait? Would she be here soon? Would she even come at all, or was the promise of her visit as much of a lie as his 'rank' as a Freedom Fighter?

He toyed with the idea of feigning sleep again, but that would only be avoiding the issue.

The door twitched, and Tails jumped despite himself. Slowly it opened, and Sally Acorn, to the fox's mild surprise, stepped inside.

"Hey, Tails," she said in greeting, meeting his eyes.

"Hiya Sally," he replied, keeping his voice even and his face blank. 'Aunt' was carefully clipped away as he refused to show his childishness to anyone, her most of all.

She stood uncomfortably in the door for a minute, neither saying anything, feeling upset at the sudden loss of the 'Aunt' prefix. And Tails felt much the same, unused to being so angry.

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked, and the fox glared at her in response. He folded his arms and looked away, completely unaware of how young it made him appear.

"Uh-huh," he muttered.

"Tails" she princess said, walking into the room proper and sitting in the chair next to his bed. "Tomorrow, things… might not go well for us." She paused, realising how bad that sounded, "I mean, you shouldn't worry! Sonic and I, with Griff and Ari and Lupe… we've planned this mission inside out. We have everything covered, but… just in case…"

She glanced at the fox, who wasn't looking at her but was obviously listening with his head bowed.

"If something goes wrong, you get Rosie, and you run. Don't wait and don't come looking for us, just run. Rosie knows where all of the other Freedom Fighter groups we know of are based so she will make sure you are safe, so… promise that for me, please?"

"Okay, Sally," he replied quietly, then suddenly, "Why now? Why are you only attacking Robotropolis like this now?"

Sally paused, unsure of what exactly to say. She couldn't tell him of the Apocalypse Cannon – she just couldn't do it – and so instead replied cryptically, "Because if we don't stop Snively right now then something terrible will happen, and we might never get the chance again."

She glanced at Tails again, surprised this time to see him looking back at her, his expression unreadable. His mind, meanwhile, was just staring to catch up with quite how serious this attack was- this was no mere raid, and the need to become involved swelled inside tenfold.

He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he just sat here and did nothing whilst Freedom Fighters fought for their freedom.

It was such a strange and dark thought for a ten year old, one who, despite Sally's best attempts to the contrary, was growing up too quickly.

"Tails," she said, changing the subject, "I've got a confession to make… I'm not here to read you a story."

The boy tensed, and raised an eyebrow slightly. Sally took a deep shaking breath, and Tails realised that whatever subject she was approaching was very important.

"There's someone you need to meet…" she stood, and walked to the doorway with her back to the fox, "and I've brought him here so that you can have some time together before he joins us tomorrow. His name is Merlin, and I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on." Only now did she turn, and Tails was surprised to see how nervous she was all of a sudden. "If you need me, I'll be outside."

She opened the door and spoke a few words quietly to someone beyond, too quiet for him to pick up on, and then disappeared from sight.

Replacing the presence of his 'Aunt' Sally, was a grown adult fox. Merlin, Tails presumed, and he stared at the newcomer wondering how he could have upset the princess so.

Merlin for his part gazed at the boy with all the calm he could muster, his heart beating a heavy rhythm in his chest. After a moment he spoke.

"Your name is Miles Prower?" he asked.

Tails scrunched his face in embarrassment of his real name, but the interest of how the fox knew it was the more pressing issue. Had Sally told him? Why would she do that?

Merlin took the moment to watch the boy's reactions with interest, studying him closely. He could see that he moved with a quick confidence, no doubt the influence of Sonic, and already seemed to be piecing together where this was going. Acorn appeared to have taught him well, which sparked a jolt of jealousy though him; but there was one thing that he identified that made him realise that this was indeed the boy he had thought dead. It was his eyes, orbs of such a deep cobalt blue that shimmered with intelligence and wonder, that may as well been taken directly from his mother.

And whenever he looked at them, all Merlin could think of was Rosemary Prower.

"I… knew your father," Merlin continued. "A good mobian, Amadeus. We had a very different view on life, but none the less we were close."

"My father?" Tails echoed. "You knew my father, how?"

Merlin did not react, but merely watched for Tails' expression.

"Artemis was my brother. I am your uncle, Miles."

The kit didn't say a thing. He just stared at Merlin with his mouth agape, stunned. The older fox realised he had felt much the same way, so gave him time for his mind to catch up. He walked slowly across the room, eventually sitting on the end of Tails' bed and bowed his head. When he spoke again it was slowly, so that Tails would not miss a word.

"I am Merlin, Castellan of the Holy Order of the Knights Hospitaller. I have at my command here in Knothole seven Initiates and two Neophytes of my Order, and we are here to stand by Princess Sally Acorn as she makes her assault upon Robotropolis." He paused, looking over to the kit, whose wet eyes stared right back.

"You're… you're really my uncle?" Tails stammered.

"Aye, I am. Merlin Prower. I am the brother of Amadeus Prower, your father, and your mother Rosemary was one of my dearest friends."

"Wha…" the kit spluttered, not knowing where to begin. For his part, Merlin felt far more uncomfortable than he had expected. But really, what had he expected? He had never met the boy before, he may as well have been an Overlander- it wouldn't have made much difference.

But, he did feel a connection of a sort. It had been a long time since he had felt so protective of anyone; the last he could remember had been Rosemary.

"But where are my parents? Where have you been all this time?" Tails asked, finding his voice. Merlin sighed, knowing these questions were inevitable.

"I will tell you the truth, Miles. Your mother… I am sorry, but she was killed shortly after you were born. And as for your father, I haven't seen him since Robotnik rose to power. My best guess is that he was robotisized, but I can't tell you for certain because I honestly don't know."

"My mother… she's dead?" Tails said, tears overflowing. Merlin reached over and put his arm around his shoulders in comfort, drawing the boy closer as he took a hitching breath. Though Tails had never known Rosemary, he had still held out hope of meeting her one day, and the lack of knowledge of her fate had given him hope that she might still be safe. It was a terrible thing to accept, to realise that he would never see his mother at all. "How?"

"She died during the coup, protecting you. It's thanks to her that you made it so close to Knothole. She saved your life Miles, so have no shame about it. She did not die in vain; she died so that you would live."

Merlin closed his eyes as Tails cried for the mother he never knew. The older fox stayed with him throughout, providing support, and only when the kit settled back down did he speak again.

"Miles. I thought you were dead too. Had I known that your friend brought you here… then I would have come sooner. As far as I am concerned Sonic is a hero for that alone, and I thank Aurora for guiding him."

"Aurora?" Tails sniffled, wiping his nose on a glove. "Who's Aurora?"

Merlin took a deep breath, wandering how to sum up the Lady in such a way so that the boy would understand. The Auroran Faith he knew was something of a mystery to most of Mobius, its details kept within the Knightly Orders and away from the prying eyes of the public. Not for any reason sinister; the Pious Knights of the Order of the Silver Shield especially had attempted to found a Church outside the walls of their monastery many times, but the only mobian who could truly appreciate Aurora for who she was and what she represented was one of her knights.

"Aurora is my Goddess," he said finally. "Many thousands of years ago, she led her people into battle against the evil of Chaos, slaying the demon Mammoth Mogul and his beasts. In doing so she tamed Chaos and turned it's power into good, uniting all of Mobius and bringing about a golden age of prosperity."

Tails looked up at the knight. "Rosie never mentioned her…"

"Who is Rosie, your teacher?" Merlin guessed, and Tails nodded in reply. "It isn't surprising, lad. But you know Aurora's name, now; treat her with respect, and she will guide your path."

"Aurora…" Tails breathed. "So… you're an Auroran Knight? What is that, Uncle Merlin?" the older fox smiled at the name, finding that it gave him a surprising warmth. Guilt ten years past was lifting away, and he felt all the better for it- it was like waking from a long sleep. "Aunt Sally has read me stories about knights, with swords and stuff…"

"Aye," Merlin said, standing and facing the boy. He wasn't wearing his armour but, like many knights he found the idea of being without weaponry for any length of time – sword especially – to be repulsive. So even without his suit of battle plate the belt remained, and holstered there were both his blade and pistol. "We are not quite like in fairytales- I don't imagine many of them use one of these," he commended with a hand resting on the butt of the gun. "However…"

Merlin's hand strayed to grip the leather-bound hilt of his bastard sword. With one motion he drew the blade from its sheath, and it let out a balanced scrape of metal on metal as it was revealed. The sword glistened in the light of the room, its surface perfectly smooth, the silver hilt reflecting the light like ice.

"This is Nemesis," Merlin said, holding the weapon before him so that Tails could see. "It was a gift from your father, made by the finest smiths in the Kingdom of Acorn. In an age of guns and electricity even a weapon like this can find use in the right hands because, more than anything, it is a universal symbol of justice. That is what it represents. Do you understand?"

Tails nodded hesitantly, reaching out to touch a finger to the flat of the blade.

"Aurora herself founded our kind before she ascended to godhood. We follow her example, defending Mobius from whatever threat it faces. We helped to establish the Kingdom of Acorn twelve-hundred years ago. We fought against the Overlanders during both Great Wars, and we have fought Robotnik ever since he made his coup over King Maximillian Acorn."

"…like the Freedom Fighters," Tails added. "Right? That's what Freedom Fighters do, they protect Mobius." Merlin looked at him for a long moment.

"Yes, to an extent." Tails immediately brightened.

"Hey, I'm a Freedom Fighter, Uncle Merlin! I'm just like you! Aunt Sally made me one when I came up with a plan to trick Robotnik…" But then his ears drooped and his enthusiasm drained, and he continued without anywhere near as much confidence. Instead Merlin was surprised to see a spark of anger, "But she keeps leaving me behind. It's like she doesn't take me seriously."

"I don't think that's it, Miles," Merlin replied. "She seems very protective of you. I imagine she only wants to see you safe."

"I know, but I want to help… This is my world too, right? Why can't I help to protect it?" His expression darkened. "And now I know Robotnik killed my mother… I have to do something."

Merlin returned Nemesis to it's sheath, watching the kit with interest. He found Tails' words to be fascinating; words Merlin knew well, and he replied with his honest belief. "Revenge is a noble ideal. I understand your need… I myself seek revenge, as you do," the fox added. "I have done for over ten years."

"Against Snively, Uncle Merlin?" The knight twitched.

"Partially. Snively… has destroyed a fellow Order of Auroran Knights. He killed every last one of them, and then defiled their memory by stealing their most guarded relic…"

Tails' voice lowered to a whisper, taking on an almost conspirational tone.

"What did he take, Uncle Merlin?"

In the back of his mind, Merlin knew that he should end this topic here and now; it was dangerous to tell the lad what they pursued in case he were to pass on the truth. What if Acorn tried to take the Chaos Emerald for herself? But he felt strangely trusting of a boy he had only just met, and with alarm he realised that his mouth was going to continue before his brain could stop it.

"A Chaos Emerald, lad. The most precious relic for any Order of Auroran Knights. Aurora used them to tame Chaos, and each Order has guarded an Emerald ever since so they would not fall into the wrong hands. And now the Templars of the Brotherhood of the Sword have failed in their duty… it has fallen to us to rectify it." Tails nodded sagely.

"Now remember Miles, you are sworn to silence on this! A Chaos Emerald is incredibly dangerous, and we cannot risk anyone taking it from Snively but ourselves. Do you understand?"

Tails nodded again, a little giddy about being let in on such a secret. Despite himself, Merlin smiled and ruffled his head. He wanted to stay longer, to tell the boy about his parents and what a wonderful couple they had once been… But the knight had duties to attend to, and rest to gather before tomorrow.

And, he needed Balian's advice.

"Good. Now, Miles, lad. I must return to my company to prepare for war. But I would like to speak to you again. Would you like that?" A small smile appeared on the kit's face.

"Sure I would, Uncle Merlin! Tomorrow?"

"Yes, but early! The assault will commence at dawn, so I will visit before sunrise. Go to sleep and get plenty of rest, because you will need it."

Tails nodded, pulling his covers up to his muzzle.

Good lad. Sleep well Miles, I shall see you in the morning," said Merlin, moving to the door to take his leave.

Outside, Sally caught a brief glimpse of Tails settling down as the knight opened the door. She had waited with her arms wrapped around her waist, unable to tell if she was shivering from the cool night air or from her own nerves, fighting desperately against the urge to eavesdrop. Merlin retained his usual calm as he looked at her, closing the door behind him, and stopped facing the princess.

"Thank you," was all he said.

"…he's the one?" Sally asked, almost a rhetorical question, but she needed it to be confirmed none the less.

"He is. That lad is Miles, my nephew. Does… that upset you?"

She felt awkward. Looking at the knight, despite once more that excellent façade he put up, she could tell that he felt much the same way.

"I'm not upset, just…" she sighed, not knowing what to say. "Merlin, until yesterday the Freedom Fighters had no idea he had any family left. We still have no idea where he came from. And now that you suddenly appear, I don't know what to say to him… or what he will want to do."

Merlin looked at her for a long moment before replying, "Are you worried I might take him with me?"

Sally caught the hidden tension in his words, and tried to remain as diplomatic as she could. "I'm worried he might make a mistake. We brought him up to try and preserve his innocence, but he keeps insisting on getting involved in the war- it's like he sees it as an adventure. And you… look at the weapons you carry! Your life is war! Sir Merlin, I'm worried he might get the wrong impression of you."

Merlin's expression hardened, and his reply terse.

"You raised him, but make no mistake; you are not his mother. You are not his blood. That boy has a legacy to live up to, and I intend to see that he fulfils it."

The knight's words sent a cold shiver down Sally's spine, though she didn't know what part of it hurt the most. The truth was that Merlin was right; she was no relation to Tails, but he was, and the law of the former Kingdom of Acorn stated that the last blood relative of an infant would be the one given custody in such a situation.

But,_a legacy to live up to_? What did he mean?

"You want to make him into one of your knights," Sally said almost without thinking.

"I will do what his father would want. But don't worry, Your Highness," Merlin continued. "It will be what is best for him. I swear it."

Her mouth feeling like it was suddenly full of cotton, Sally could only watch as the knight left for his quarters.

Had she just made a terrible mistake?

Sally walked to the door of Tails' hut, and was about to knock when she realised that the lights had already gone out. For the very first time she had second thoughts about disturbing him, and it was a terrible feeling.

Tails was slipping away from her.

She didn't know how long she stood there, but the sickness in her stomach made her unable to do it. She couldn't face the kit, so instead walked back to her home with her shoulders slumped.

She could only be glad that at this time and this close to the assault, no-one was awake to see her.

All except for one…

"Sal?" came a voice as she walked through the door of her home. Sonic stood behind her, knowing immediately something was wrong, and that it was not just stress eating at her. "What's up?"

"When did you get back?" she asked instead, wondering how long he had been watching.

"Just a few minutes ago… N' don't try to avoid me, what's wrong?"

She waved him inside and closed the door, "I've told Merlin like we agreed. And…" She fell heavily into a chair by her desk.

"And?" Sonic prompted.

"He wants to take Tails with him."

--

Merlin strode away towards the quarters assigned to him and his knights, his mind filled with possibility and confusion.

Such wonder! He still found the irony of the situation staggering, but couldn't deny the great swell of fear he felt for his nephew. What would King Acorn say of Miles' relation to his daughter? What would he do with the boy?

Balian waited outside of their assigned quarters and Merlin smiled at his friend as he approached, the light of the hut behind long since extinguished. Like the fox he was without his armour baring only his weapons at his waist, and stood patiently with his hands held before him.

"So… Is it Miles?" Balian asked. Merlin nodded his reply, and Balian smiled. "Then I am glad for you, old friend."

"Thank you," the fox replied, returning the smile. "Who'd have thought it?"

The two began to walk slowly side by side, no particular destination in mind, speaking quietly as they went. It was a cold night and the fresh air was invigorating.

"What do you intend to do about him?" Balian said, "Did speaking to him help?"

"Aye, it did. I can't leave him here for Maximillian to see."

"Indeed? So where will he go? From what you say, it seems that Princess Acorn is quite fond of Miles… Will she _let_ you take him away?"

"Oh she's trying to give Miles the choice. Commendable, but we both know that there is really only one option, and he's not old enough to understand the consequences if he refused it."

Balian said nothing for a while, already seeing where this was going.

"Merlin, he can't just stay at the monastery indefinitely-"

"He can if he is my neophyte."

Balian stopped and stared at his friend.

"You've never taken on a squire, Merlin. And are you _sure_he's the one? He will live with you night and day, you will have to tutor him in all aspects of his life. Can you cope with that?"

"Don't lecture me on it Balian, I know what will be expected of me."

"Really? With all respect, I don't think you do Merlin. Bethor tutored Astelan for years before choosing to officially take him, and Sigismund? He and Azrael have known each other since the boy's infancy. You've known Miles for maybe ten minutes, and I'm worried that you might think him to be something he is not."

"And what would you have me do, Balian?!" Merlin snapped. "Leave him here for Maximillian to destroy?"

"Of course not! But you should think carefully on this matter. Don't rush into it! Get to know Miles before you decide on anything for certain, and if he does not have that quality, that spark of faith in Aurora, then we must find another option."

Merlin grit his teeth, only a growl of frustration making itself known. He_knew_ this, really, and had spoken similar words himself to other initiates before they chose their own neophytes. And ultimately he knew that Balian was right, and he hated it.

But what could he do? He could not, _would not_, abandon Miles here! Honour had to be satisfied. Rosemary's son had to be saved!

"You don't approve of my decision."

"Of course I don't. I can't, I don't know the boy, and you don't either. And you know Marshall Tobias will say exactly the same."

"But what if… What if he could prove his valour? He has the potential. I've seen it in his eyes. I _know_ it. He yearns to prove himself Balian… and if he does, then he will be worthy, will he not? And then you will back me up before Marshall Tobias?"

Balian took a deep breath. "If he shows himself worthy in my eyes, if I can see that you and he have a connection, then yes, I would back you up…" Suddenly, he eyed the fox suspiciously. "…Merlin, what are you plotting?"

"Tomorrow, Balian? Miles is coming with us."

--

Trapped in a cold metal medical room, Snively trembled with pain and humiliation.

The diminutive human lay in a bed covered from the waist down with a sterile white sheet, only his left leg emerging where a medbot worked diligently on the wound. The painkillers the machine injected were helping, but not completely; a ghostly fire was burning from his calf, and Snively had to force himself to look away.

'_How dare they!'_ he thought viciously as the medbot inserted a particularly sharp needle. _'I am the supreme ruler of all Mobius, how dare they fight back! They should have been begging for their lives!'_

And that was perhaps the biggest insult of them all; not at one had point had the knights, or even the Freedom Fighters, offered a truce or their surrender. Not once! It made his blood boil that his enemies didn't appear to be afraid of him at all, especially _The Hedgehog_ who mocked him so gallantly, and as he lay immobile on that hospital bed it just made him all the more determined to destroy them all.

The only consolation was that the Templars' efforts had been in vain. Not even the most famously skilled Auroran Knights had been able to hold him at bay forever, and soon he assured himself the Freedom Fighters would follow suit. Even now his prize was being installed into his masterpiece, the Apocalypse Cannon.

Snively gave a sharp order and instantly a nearby monitor lit up, showing him progress on the immense weapon. Finally, it was on the very verge of completion. Only the muzzle of the gun was visible protruding from a huge iron turntable, but beneath, for a few hundred meters straight down like the web of some huge tunnel spider, ran layer upon layer of gantry frames and wires. And, at the very base, in a room beneath the loading breach, a cylinder of glass awaited the final missing piece.

A combot moved in, delicate cargo nestled safely in it's hands. Snively made sure to watch as the machine stepped to the chamber, the glass sinking smoothly into the ground at it's approach, and placed the Chaos Emerald on a pedestal in the centre.

But Snively was not the only living being observing as his Cannon inched towards completion. For two mobians elsewhere in Robotropolis watched via a ghostly screen of pure magic, their bodies wracked in pain, limbs twisted into a luminescent crystal. One had long since given in fully to the transformation, a fox of noble birth whose eyes stared unseeing at the vision before him. As for the other, only force of will kept his change at bay, but slowly and surely that what remained of that will and sanity was slipping away.

"Our salvation!" he wheezed, a beast of a figure, "It has come, at last!"

He gave a sweeping movement with his gnarled arms, and the frozen crystalline figure of King Maximillian Acorn rose inches into the air.

"We must be there at the moment the human unleashes the Emeralds power! Come, there is no time to waste! Soon, sire, I shall have vengeance on those who would leave me to rot in the Void… Amongst them your wretched daughter, and you shall bear witness to it all!"


End file.
